Astronomy for Beginners
by Isabel5
Summary: Chloe/Dean. Chloe has a part to play in the Winchesters battle but she's not sure what it is. If she figures it out in time, will she be able to go through with it?
1. Sagittarius

**Title: **Astronomy for Beginners  
**Fandom:** Smallville/Supernatural  
**Pairing:** Chloe/Dean  
**Rating:** T  
**Spoilers: **Up to Bride in Smallville and before Death Takes A Holiday in Supernatural.  
**Summary:** Chloe has a part to play in the Winchesters war but will she figure out what it is in time and when she does, will she be able to do it.  
**Disclaimer:** Don't own really want.

**Authors Note: **In my Smallville universe Chloe became Watchtower before the whole Divorce thing, which never happened because Doomsday interuptted the wedding before the vows were taken. Supernatural goes Cannon until I get to it, then it's free game.

Castiel was having an epiphany. Or what he assumed an epiphany was like anyway, he'd never had one before. There wasn't much call for epiphanies when you were an angel of the Lord. They were generally reserved for those with free will, the humans. His epiphany was rather simple actually, it was just one thought that penetrated his brain, grabbed on tight and wouldn't let go. He was dying.

* * *

He'd never really thought about Death. Death always seemed like an abstract notion to him. The humans that littered the earth had such a short lifespan compared to his that he saw Death all the time but he never understood the finality of it until now. For him, when he watched a human die it didn't signify the end of their existence. Death was simply the end of their existence on earth, they continued on in one form or another in either Heaven or Hell depending on what they did in their life.

Humans had phases of existence, pre-life, life, then after-life. Angels were different they simply existed, then they ceased to exist. But the time in between arrival and departure was measured on the abstract scale of the infinite and not in the more linear one of decades. Castiel never imagined that he'd live to see the day he died. Here he was though, lying in the middle of the woods, in what looked like upstate New York, going through the physical act of dying, it was strange and slightly tingly. A twig snapped off to his left and he managed to turn his head in that direction in time to see a barefoot woman make her way into the clearing.

"I can't believe I'm barefoot in the middle of Lake Placid." She said annoyed pulling twigs out of her hair. He was right, it was upstate New York. It was strange but even in the midst of dying that small victory made him want to laugh, so he did. It came out as more of a gurgle, what with the gaping hole in his throat and the woman turned to him. "Holy shit." She ran over and dropped to the ground next to him. "You're here." She did a quick inventory for hidden damage as her eyes stayed glued to his throat. "You're actually here." She ran her fingers through her hair and tears ran down her face as she laughed. "I'm not crazy." She said to him and her mouth curved up into such a relieved smile that he couldn't help but smile back at her.

"Oh yeah, you're dying." She frowned and wiped her hands on her pants. "Don't worry." She brushed the hair off his forehead. "I've done this before. You're going to be ok." Her tone was soft and the light pressure of her hand on his forehead felt oddly reassuring. Maybe she was a doctor, she thought she could save him. He wanted to tell her not to bother, he wanted to tell her that there was nothing medicine could do for him but he couldn't speak so he just stared up into her eyes. He barely noticed when her other hand covered the wound on his throat. It wasn't until he saw the white light that he realized something was going on.

"You're going to be ok." She said, more tears falling from her eyes. But he knew, somehow knew that they were happy tears. "I'm going to..." She collapsed slightly, her face becoming paler. "When you get better, something's going to happen to me. I'd appreciate it if you didn't call an ambulance, or take me to a hospital, ok. They'll bury me and I don't like it when they bury me." She grunted in pain. "This is different." She said suddenly, gritting her teeth in confusion. "But it's ok, it's ok." She kept whispering over and over and at some point Castiel realized that her tears of joy had turned into tears of pain. "Just leave me here ok." She was whispering now. "Just leave my body here and I'll be fine."

The blonde woman screamed out in pain as a white light enveloped both her and Castiel and suddenly he wasn't dying anymore, he wasn't dead either, he was simply better. He sat up abruptly and brought both hands to his throat, there was no blood, there was no wound. He heard a gurgle beside him and looked down to see the blonde woman lying unmoving, her eyes staring straight up at the night sky. He looked down at her confused, astonished, and grateful without knowing why, feeling emotions that were strange and unfamiliar to him. "What did you just do?" He asked her as she smiled and brought her hand up to his face, cupping his cheek. Acting on an instinct that he couldn't explain, Castiel covered her hands with his, his gaze moving down to her throat where blood was pouring out of a wound that she didn't have a minute ago but he did.

* * *

Chloe stared up into the sky, the stars were different in New York, it seemed wrong like they were out of place, but she was the one who was out of place. She shouldn't be here, there was no logical reason for her to be here and yet here she was, lying in the middle of the woods in upstate New York dying rather slowly. Still of all the places she'd died before, this one was the most peaceful. Her lips curve up in a smile and she decided to just sit back and enjoy the night sky and the cool breeze.

Something suddenly occurred to her and she tried to laugh though with the hole in her throat, it came out as more of a gurgle. The voices had finally stopped. Her head was quiet for the first time in months and all she had to do was die. A face suddenly obscured her great view of the night sky and she almost frowned until she realized it was him. Castiel, the man she'd come here, against all odds to save. He'd been right where she knew he was going to be, right when she knew he was going to be there.

The fact that he was there, that she'd been right let her know she wasn't crazy and that was worth a few hours of death, though the pain she could have lived without. She'd never felt a pain like that before. Sure she felt pain when healing someone, it came with the territory. But this wasn't like that, it felt like her insides were being pulled out through the gash in her throat. "What did you just do?" Castiel asked her and she smiled. Unable to answer and brought her hand up to his cheek and he laid his hand over hers. Then his gaze moved down slightly to the wound in her neck. She wanted to tell him that it was ok, that she would be ok but that was out of the question so she simply ran her thumb across his cheek a few times before she felt her eyes close.

* * *

Castiel watched the girl die right in front of his eyes. One minute she was sitting over him, smiling and crying as he died. The next she was lying next to him dying and he was perfectly fine. Yet even as she was dying she was smiling up at him and he couldn't help but just stare as her thumb lightly brushed against his cheek, getting slower and slower until it stopped. Her arm went limp and fell from his cheek, Castiel grabbed it, holding it where it was. It didn't make any sense, none of this made any sense, this woman, this girl really showed up out of nowhere right when he was dying and didn't seem surprised that he was there, more relieved, like she'd been expecting him.

If that wasn't enough somehow, beyond all earthly and heavenly comprehension, she'd healed him. This girl from nowhere had brought him back from the brink of death, and brought him back without a scratch. That act would have been extraordinary had he simply been a human, but he wasn't a human, he was an angel and she shouldn't be able to do that. He grabbed the girl's body and stood in one smooth move turning on his heal and suddenly he was gone and the forest was empty.

* * *

Sam finished washing his hands and then bent down to splash some water in his face. When he stood back up and looked in the mirror he almost jumped three feet in the air. "Castiel?" Sam turned and Dean looked up from his spot on the bed, slowly put his book down and stood up. Castiel had returned to their motel room, his shirt covered in blood but that's not what was capturing Dean and Sam's attention. No the bloody unconscious blonde he was holding in his arms deserved that honor.

"Cas, buddy, what's going on?" Dean walked over to him slowly.

"Help her." Castiel laid the girl on Dean's bed and stepped back, looking at Dean expectantly.

"Help her?" Dean asked. "What happened to her?"

"Just help her." Castiel said.

Sam moved closer and Castiel turned on him quickly. "I'm just going to check her out ok." Sam held up his hands to placate the Angel. "Ok?"

Castiel nodded and Sam stepped over to the bed, placing his fingers on her neck. He looked over at Dean and closed his eyes, shaking his head. "We can't help her Cas." Dean said quietly.

"You have to." Castiel said.

"She's dead." Sam stood up straighter.

"She's not."

"Yes she is." Sam said. "There's blood, her blood, all over the place. She's got no pulse, a gaping wound in her neck and she's cold. I'm sorry."

"She's not dead, not yet." Castiel said.

"How do you know that?" Dean asked and then shook his head. "Nevermind."

"Her body is dead." Castiel explained. "But not her soul." He brushed the hair out of her face without even realizing he was doing it. "So fix her."

"Fix her?" Dean shook his head. "She's not broken. It's not like we can just bring her body back to life." Dean scoffed and looked over at Sam who had a strange look on his face. "Can we?"

"Maybe." Sam bit his lip.

"Maybe?" Dean laughed. "You need to be sure about this because we've got a dead girl in our motel room and that never ends well."

"Bobby might know what to do." Sam said.

"So your plan is for us to take a dead girl and an Angel to Bobby so he can shove her lingering soul back in her body?" Dean was trying to point out how ridiculous the situation was.

"Pretty much." Sam nodded.

"Ok then." Dean shrugged.

Sam smiled. "Do you know who she is? Her name?" He asked Castiel who shook his head. Sam moved back toward the bed and Castiel jumped again, this strange instinct he had to protect the girl slightly annoying to him. "I'm going to check her for ID." Castiel stepped away and Sam patted down her pockets coming away with car keys but no ID.

"Anything?" Dean shoved the last of his clothes in a bag.

"These." Sam tossed the keys to Dean.

"These are for a 1965 Mustang Fastback." Dean said.

"How do you know that?" Sam asked him.

"How do you not know that?" Dean smiled. "My point is this." He opened the curtains. "That pulled up about thirty minutes before Cas got here the first time." Sam looked out at the black Mustang sitting in the lot two spaces away from the Impala.

"You know when it pulled in?" Sam asked him. "You haven't looked outside all day."

"You never forget the sound of perfectly tuned engine." Dean smiled and Sam rolled his eyes.

"I'm gonna go see if she checked into a room." Sam walked out.

When he was gone Dean turned to the Angel. "Cas, I need you to level with me about this girl. Who is she?"

"I don't know." He answered truthfully.

"Well, what happened to her?" Dean looked over at the wound on the throat. "You show up, say we're in danger then disappear. You show up like twenty minutes later holding a dead girl. What happened?"

"She saved my life." Castiel said to him.

Dean frowned and looked over at the girl with slightly more respect and even more questions. "She didn't check in. The clerk said she just parked her car here and went off into the woods." Sam walked back in and grabbed his bag. "You ready?"

"Yeah." Dean tossed the keys to his Impala at Sam who grabbed them confused. "You drive my car. I want to see how this baby rides." He held up the girls keys and Sam glared. "Well we can't just leave her car here."

"Ok, but whose going to drive with the dead body in the backseat?" Sam asked. "Rock Paper Scissors?"

"I've got her." Castiel said. "I'll meet you there." He leaned over the bed, grabbed the girl and picked her up, two seconds later they were both gone.

* * *

Dean pulled into Bobby's yard, Sam right on his tail. He turned off the car and jumped out. "Oh man, you've got to drive this thing." Dean smiled. "It's like floating down a marshmallow highway."

Sam glared at him. "Did you find anything in it?" Dean looked confused. "A wallet, purse, anything?"

"This was on the seat in the front." Dean handed Sam a computer and pulled something out of his back pocket. "The car's insured and registered to a Nelly Bly so no help there."

"Why?" Sam grabbed the computer.

"It's a fake name. Nelly Bly, the woman who revolutionized the field of investigative reporting." Dean said as if that was obvious. Sam just stared at his brother who was smiling his patented Dean Winchester goofy grin. "I know right? I'm just full of bullshit knowledge today."

"How do you know that?" Sam shook his head walking to Bobby's door.

"Dated a reporter once." Dean smiled. "Well I say dated but really you know." Sam just shook his head and then saw Castiel in front of him. Dean took one last look at the Angel of the Lord holding a dead blonde and smiled. "Oh this is going to be fun to explain." He knocked on the door.

* * *

Bobby was pacing. He'd been pacing for the past thirty minutes. Sam and Dean watched him for the first five assuming that it wouldn't last very long but they'd soon moved onto other things. Dean was eating a sandwich he'd made while Sam was trying to get into the girls computer. "This is strange even for our lives."

"I know." Dean pointed to his sandwich. "This is really good ham." He took another bite.

"You showed up on my doorstep with an Angel carrying a dead girl, how can you eat at a time like this?" Bobby asked.

"She's not really dead." Dean swallowed. "And I skipped lunch."

"How is she not really dead?" Bobby sat down.

"Her soul is still in there." Sam said. "And according to Cas that means that she's not really dead yet and we can bring her back."

"Like a spirit?" Bobby frowned.

"No, spirits and souls are two different things." Castiel said. "Spirits are echo's, souls are a person's essence."

"Ok, but why are we putting her essence back in her body?" Bobby asked this directly to the Angel.

"Because she saved my life." Castiel said.

"That's sweet and everything." Dean pointed out. "But you would have just healed yourself so it's no big deal."

"No." Castiel shook his head. "She didn't just heal my mortal body, she healed me." He stood up. "I was attacked." Castiel told them. "They set a trap for me, making me think that you were in trouble to get me to New York. Only when I got here I was overwhelmed by Fallen."

"Fallen?" Sam raised his eyebrows.

"Angels who have turned, switch sides." Castiel explained. "They tried to kill me, they stabbed me and left me for dead. I was on the ground and I was dying and she came out of nowhere. She told me that everything was going to be ok, she put her hand on my throat, there was a bright white light and I was alive and she was dead."

"She healed you?" Sam leaned back. "She healed an Angel?"

"Yes." Castiel nodded. "And that is impossible."

"Fine." Bobby groaned. "Sam go grab me those red books on the top shelf in the back room and then get to work on the computer. Dean make a pot of coffee. You…" He looked at Castiel. "Just stand there looking menacing, I think that's a good look for you."

* * *

Dean closed another book and rubbed his eyes. "I think I read that one yesterday. Any luck on the computer yet?'

"I've tried everything." Sam sighed in frustration. "I can't even get to the welcome screen much less into any files."

"A computer that you can't crack?" Dean scoffed.

"I've been working on this thing since we got here." Sam protested. "I know it's on but it's just a black screen. There's no where to type, nothing to click on. It's just black."

"This is ridiculous." Bobby said got up and walked to the kitchen. "I can't believe I'm sitting here doing this. It's been a week." Bobby pointed out to him. "For seven days I've had a freaking dead girl on my couch and I don't care if she's not really dead, her body is dead and that's just creepy."

"So what?" Dean asked. "You want us to just get rid of her."

"She's dead Dean. We should do what we do with any other dead body. Bury her." Bobby said. "It's a lot more respectful than this."

"In case you hadn't noticed she comes with her very own Angelic bodyguard over there." Sam pointed out. "You'd never get within two feet."

"You can't bury her." Castiel said from behind them.

"Why?" Sam asked. "Cause, I gotta agree with Bobby on this one. She's dead man."

"She asked me not to." Castiel said and they all froze at that.

"She asked you not to bury her?" Dean tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

"She asked me not to take her to the hospital. She said that they would bury her and she didn't like it when they buried her." Castiel explained.

"You mean…" Dean paused. "You mean, almost like she knew this was going to happen? Like maybe it's happened before?"

"I suppose." Castiel said.

"Well that would have been good information to have a week ago." Bobby screamed.

Dean, Sam, Bobby, and Castiel all started screaming at each other and no one noticed the wound closing on the girl's body.

Chloe had never felt so much pain before in her life. She never imagined that one single person could feel this much pain. It was indescribable and unrelenting and she was sure that if she had to endure it for much longer it would drive her mad. This had never happened before. There was always some pain before death. To heal someone she had to take on their injury and that always brought pain. But in death she found solace, the pain stopped as her body healed itself and she barely even realized she'd been dead. This, this pain had started when she touched his throat and never let up, even after her death, if anything, it had gotten worse.

The night sky was still brightly shining above her even though she knew it wasn't really there, that she wasn't really there, she wasn't really anywhere. She never fully understood where she went when she died. As the pain course through her she looked up and saw Sagittarius more clearly than she'd ever seen it before, even in the quiet light free fields of Smallville. She couldn't help but notice the irony of it all.

Sagittarius represented the Centaur Chiron, who was shot by Hercules. The arrow though dipped in poison was not enough to kill the immortal but enough to keep him in agony forever. Unable to get a release, even in death, he offered to take the place of Prometheus. As punishment for giving fire to man, the god sentence Prometheus to be chained to a rock, have his liver devoured each day and grow back each night, forever. She had never been able to relate to that story more than she could at this moment. Another wave of something so completely excruciating tore through her body and she just couldn't take it anymore, opening her mouth, and forced all the pain out in a scream.

Dean, Sam, and Bobby cowered and covered their ears as the scream erupted from the girl. The first thought that Dean had was astonishment that such a big sound could come from such a small girl. The second thought that Dean had was that if the girl was screaming, then the girl was alive. Dean made his way over to the bed and the girl sat up quickly. "Hi, could you possibly stop screaming?" Dean asked and she stopped. He was pretty sure that had more to do with the fact that she was out of breath than the fact that he asked.

Chloe stared around confused, breathing deeply and Dean reached out to her. She jumped up and backed away off the couch. "No, hi, just calm down." Dean smiled. "Everything's ok."

"What the fuck?" She breathed out confused, turned to the door and ran out.

"Well that went well." Sam sighed as he and Dean went after her.

Chloe looked around confused. Before she died she was in upstate New York, in the woods just outside of the motel where her car had been parked. Now she had no idea where she was, there were cars everywhere and she was still freaking barefoot. She needed to get it together, she needed to take stock and figure out where she was and what was going on. She slid in between a broken down Chevy and a beat up mini van and crouched down low taking deep breaths. Her shirt was covered in blood and she sighed. She needed to get out of here, she needed to get to a phone, she needed some coffee.

"Hey." Dean was suddenly beside her but before she could run away he reached out and grabbed her wrist. "Look, I realize that you're probably freaking out right now, waking up in a strange place surrounded by strange people but think how we feel. You were dead and then you were alive so I think it's safe to say that we're both pretty freaked out and if we all just calm down for a second maybe we can figure all this out."

Chloe nodded and then lowered herself to sit on the ground. "Ok."

"If I let go of your wrist, promise you won't run?" Dean asked.

"Promise." She smiled letting her head rest against the door to the mini van.

"Good." Dean let go of her wrist and sat down on the ground next to her, resting.

"You're not strangers." Chloe finally broke the silence.

"What?" Dean asked.

"You said I woke up surrounded by strangers but you're not strangers. I know you." She admitted to him. "I mean I don't know the guy with the beard but I know you."

"I'm not sure I understand…"

"Are you ok?" A very familiar voice said Chloe scrambled to her feet.

"Castiel." Her smile was huge and genuine and Dean couldn't help but notice the way it completely changed her. She reached out tentatively and brought her hand to his throat, rubbing the spot where his wound had been.

"Are you ok?" He asked again grabbing her wrist.

"I'm fine, I'm just, really glad you guys are real." She smiled then laughed.

"Can we go inside now?" Dean asked. "And maybe have some explanations."

"Sure." Chloe nodded. "Uh, do you know where my car is?" She looked around. "I'd like to shower, change my clothes."

"I can try and find you something to change into." Dean said. "But your car's right around the corner."

"I've got clothes in my car." Chloe smiled at him.

"There's nothing in your car." Dean said. "Trust me I searched all through that thing."

Chloe smiled and held out her hand and Dean dropped her keys in it. She walked over to the car, climbed in and opened the glove compartment, reaching all the way to the back, shoving the manual out of the way and pushed a button that Dean hadn't noticed before. Suddenly the back seat popped up. Chloe climbed out of the front, into the back, lifted up the seat and Dean saw a duffel bag. "You searched the whole thing?"

"Shut up." Dean rolled his eyes at her as they walked inside.

* * *

"Still no shoes." Chloe said walking barefoot into the living room as she towel dried her hair. "Sorry if I took a while, I just felt really gross." She draped the towel over her shoulders and frowned. "How long was I…you know?"

"Dead?" Dean asked.

"Yeah." Chloe nodded.

"Eight days." Sam told her.

"Eight…" Chloe stared at Sam unbelieving. "Eight _days_? As in a week?"

"Yeah." Sam nodded.

"Wow." She sounded worried.

"So then you have done this before?" Dean asked her.

"Far more often than I'd like." Chloe smiled at him. "I've never gone more than a day before and I've been dead a week? Wow."

"Yeah." Sam sat down. "You want to explain to us, how exactly that happened."

"I would love to, really but here's the thing. I haven't gone a week without coffee since I was like 14, and if you want me to make any sense at all…"

"I'll start a fresh pot." Bobby smiled at her.

"You're an Angel." Chloe flashed her brightest smile and him and Dean felt a small annoyance that Bobby and Castiel had both gotten her 100 watt smile already and he hadn't. Bobby came back a few minutes later holding a cup of fresh coffee and watching her take the first sip was entertaining. She wrapped her hands around the mug and it was almost as if her whole body wrapped around the small cup. She inhaled the steam and savored every smell before finally taking a small tentative sip and then taking a real one.

Chloe looked up and smiled sheepishly to see everyone staring at her. "It's really good."

"You seriously needed a fix because Bobby makes the worst coffee in the world." Sam laughed.

She went and flashed Sam that 100 watt smile and Dean got really annoyed. "Hell motor oil would taste like ambrosia to me at the moment." Sam smiled back at her and she put the cup down. "So, let's start at the beginning. I'm from a small town in Kansas." Chloe said and Dean raised his eyebrows.

"Really?" He smiled. "So are we."

"Where abouts?" Chloe asked curiously.

"Lawrence." Dean said.

"I know Lawrence, it's about an hour outside of Metropolis, I drive through Lawrence almost every day." Chloe said and Dean nodded. "I grew up in Smallville."

"Meteor capital of the world." Dean smiled. "I've read of that place, it's pretty weird."

"Weird doesn't even cover it." Chloe said. "When the meteor shower hit the town it was devastated. The whole place was basically demolished and there's still meteor rocks scattered all over. Only these aren't like the meteor rocks you see at a museum or anything, these are different. They change people."

"Change people how?" Bobby asked.

"Well a lot of different things. I've seen it make people invisible, able to walk through walls, control bees, electricity, glass. People who can teleport, astral project, start fires with their minds. You name it I've seen it, hell I've had my share of powers." Chloe shrugged. "One time I had the ability to make people tell the truth, then of course there's the whole healing, dying, coming back to life thing."

"You got this power from a meteor rock?" Bobby frowned.

"Actually the healing power I inherited from my mother but she got hers from a meteor rock." Chloe explained.

"So you're like a mutant?" Dean asked. "Like an X-men?"

"A really lame X-men but yeah, I guess so." Chloe laughed and Dean thought that might even be better than her smile.

"And is that how you found us?" Dean asked. "You said you knew who we were. Is that from some meteor ability?"

"I thought so at first." Chloe shook her head. "But apparently it's not."

"So how do you know us?" Dean asked. "How did you know Castiel was going to be in those woods?"

"Ok, you travel across the country fighting demons and ghosts and this guys an Angel of the Lord so I'm hoping if anyone can listen to this story with an open mind it'll be you guys." Chloe said.

"Trust me there's nothing you can say that we would find unbelievable." Sam laughed.

"Fine." Chloe took a deep breath. "It wasn't just rocks and space junk that came down in that meteor shower. Other things, like alien things fell to earth. One of those things was called the Interactive Brain Construct or Brainiac. He was an organic alien computer that infected me, possessed me, screwed with my brain and I didn't even know he was in there."

"An organic alien computer?" Dean frowned. Chloe just nodded. "Ok, I'm going to go with it."

"There's also this beast." Chloe said. "We're not exactly sure what it is but we know that Brainiac wanted to use this Beast to destroy the human race."

"Still with you." Dean assured her.

"So about six months ago, I was getting married." Chloe said. "I was in the dress, I had the flowers and the cake and the regular pre wedding jitters. The bridesmaids had just gone down the aisle when the lights went out. There was the most horrifying sound and the beast pulled an Owen Wilson."

At Sam's confused look Dean smirked. "Wedding Crashers." Sam nodded in understanding.

"It killed a few guests, injured a bunch of people, put the groom in the hospital and kidnapped me." Chloe seemed to shrink into herself as she told the story. "It uh, it activated Brainiac who took over and went about his plan to enslave the human race, using my body, in my wedding dress."

"I bet that was a sight to see." Sam smiled at her.

"I was told it was equal parts terrifying and surreal." Chloe smirked. "I, well Brainiac, killed a lot of people before some friends, who specialize in the weird things that happen in Smallville managed to get it out of me." She was silent for a long time and then shook her head. "They didn't start until after Brainiac left. He must have done something, screwed up the way my brain worked."

"What didn't start?" Dean asked her.

"The voices." Chloe explained.


	2. Ares

Author's Note: Words in italics are words that Chloe hears in her head.

**

* * *

**

Six Months Ago

Chloe sat at the kitchen table and looked up at Jimmy sitting in front of her. He reached a hand up to scratch at one of the bandages on his neck which gave Chloe a full look at the cast on his wrist. "You know what that thing at the wedding was don't you?" For a second she considered lying to him but seeing him like this she couldn't do that anymore. In the past she always justified her lies by telling herself that she was just trying to protect Jimmy but she didn't believe that anymore.

"Yes." Chloe whispered, her eyes never leaving the long set of stitches on the side of his face.

"Are you going to tell me what it was?" Jimmy asked her. Chloe closed her eyes and saw the thing, Doomsday, toss Jimmy across the aisle and then grab her.

"No." Chloe's voice was shaky but her eyes were sure.

"No?" Jimmy let out a breath. "I knew coming into this relationship that there were things that you weren't telling me. Keeping stuff about the Foundation from me I understood because it was other people's secrets, other people's lives."

"Jimmy." Chloe reached her hand forward and Jimmy moved back.

"The same goes for Clark, whatever it is about him that you're not telling me is not you're secret to tell and I'm not ok with that but I live with it." Jimmy said. "But this is different Chloe. It invaded our wedding, it almost killed me and then it kidnapped you. This is about you, it's specifically about you Chloe and it doesn't just effect you. You told me about you're power, you trusted me with that and I thought maybe it was a turning point. Then you get back from Montana you're even more closed off."

"I told you about Montana."

"Don't Chloe." Jimmy shook his head. "You didn't tell me everything and you know it." Chloe didn't say anything because she didn't tell him everything. "I thought I could handle it, I thought I could live like that but I can't do it."

"What do you mean you can't?" Chloe asked her voice scared.

"I mean I can't do it." Jimmy pushed his chair back. "I can't live my life like that and that means that I can't live my life with you."

"You're breaking up with me?" Chloe asked confused. "We've already rescheduled the wedding; we're getting married in two months."

"No we're not." Jimmy stood up and frowned at her before walking out of the room.

Chloe looked at the door, then down at her hands on the table. She twisted her engagement ring from side to side then grabbed it, pausing before slowly pulling it off her finger. She flexed her hand and dropped the ring on the table, watching as it spun around a few times and then laid still. "Huh." Chloe stood up and walked to the kitchen. She headed for the coffee pot but stopped when she saw the red wine that she and Lois had opened the night before her wedding and never finished. She grabbed the wine bottle, pulled out the cork and gulped it down as she walked to the bedroom.

* * *

Chloe woke up face down on the bed, her head hanging over the edge, her hair dusting the carpet. She sat up quickly confused and then grabbed her head; it was pounding out of her skull. She looked over at the edge of the carpet and saw the empty wine bottle but that didn't make any sense. The thing was half empty when she opened it and, unless she was remembering wrong, she'd spilled quite a bit of it on the pillow. She reached behind her and grabbed the pillow; sure enough there was a large stain on the front.

So the headache wasn't a hangover, it felt like a hangover, but it wasn't a hangover. Regardless she needed coffee and she needed it now. She got up and managed to walk over to the kitchen, very carefully and started a pot of coffee.

"_It's impossible_." Someone said. The voice was muted and muffled and Chloe turned toward the television thinking that she'd left it on but it was off. The radio was off, her iPod was off, everything was off. Chloe frowned and looked over at the window which was closed. She shook her head, figuring she'd imagined it when she heard a voice again.

"_You've read the same signs that I have_." This time it was clearer and louder and she spun around quickly thinking maybe her front door was open and there were people on the stairs but it was closed.

"Maybe I did get drunk." Chloe mumbled. "Maybe I'm still drunk." She grabbed for a cup and was reaching for the coffee carafe when her headache throbbed harder and she had to grab onto the counter to steady herself. Her breath was coming out in pants and her knuckles were white on the granite and it felt like something was inside of her skull clawing to get out. She sucked in a deep breath and suddenly whatever it was broke the surface. The cup in Chloe's hand fell to the ground and shattered as her knees went weak and she collapse onto of the broken glass.

She clutched her head as a flood of voices slammed into her.

"_She's not that powerful." _

"_There are over 600. We can't possibly protect them all." _

"_This wouldn't have mattered if we had just kept the first seal from breaking." _

"_How were we to know that he of all people would break the first seal?" _

"_His father lasted 100 years and never considered getting off the rack." _

"_He is definitely not his father." _

"_Stop talking about what we cannot change."_

"_But to spend so many of our resources on one man…"_

"_That one man is our only hope and these orders are not given lightly and not by me lest you forget."_

The voices then erupted into an argument, talking over each other and getting louder and louder. Chloe clutched the side of her head and cried as the voices continued and at some point, they simply took over, it was like Chloe wasn't even there anymore.

Five hours later Chloe blinked and suddenly she was back. The voices had finally started fading and Chloe tentatively removed the hands from her head and pushed herself off the floor. They were still there but they weren't screaming anymore, it was like she was listening to a radio with a pillow over her head. She grabbed a broom and swept up the broken glass breathing slowly and steadily, trying to get her bearings back. She stared at the cold coffee pot and contemplated making a fresh one when the voices got louder then softer then louder, as if they were trying to equalize, find some steady volume.

She turned away from the coffee pot, opened the freezer and grabbed the bottle of vodka sitting in the corner. She opened the cabinet and pulled a cup on the counter. She poured a small amount of vodka in the glass and shot it back in one gulp. _"What do we do about the brother?"_ A clear precise voice asked loudly in her head and she slammed the glass on the counter. She was about to pour another shot when she tossed the cup in sink and just drank from the bottle instead.

"Chloe?" Lois' voice rang through the door. It was the first familiar voice she'd heard since Jimmy left yesterday and the fact that it was outside of her head was confusing. "Chloe, I just talked to Jimmy." Lois screamed. "Why didn't you call me?" Chloe turned and stared at the door as Lois knocked again. "Come on Chloe, let me in." She pushed herself off the counter and walked to the door. Her hand hovered over the knob and just when she was about to open it she heard a voice that was definitely not Lois' in her head.

"_We can't just ignore what he's doing."_ Chloe closed her eyes tight and moved her hand to lock the deadbolt and then slid the chain in place.

"Chloe!" Lois said. "I heard that. Come on, open the door." Lois knocked harder. Chloe walked to the bedroom ignoring her and lying in the bed with her head on the pillow and cried until she fell asleep.

**

* * *

**

Three Months Later

"_We're not going over this again_." Chloe scoffed. The one they called Uriel was in a mood today. Since they exploded into her brain three months ago she'd learned to coexist with the voices. She could differentiate between the different voices now, some even had names. Uriel was annoying and bossy and a know it all, she didn't like him.

"_Yes we are."_ Castiel said and she smiled at the sound of his voice, like she could officially start her morning because she'd heard him.

"_Sam isn't a problem, at least not one that we need to worry about now_." Uriel said.

"_Yes he is."_ Chloe and Castiel said at the same time and Chloe frowned. Sam from what she could tell was becoming quite the problem. _"If we don't deal with Sam now, we'll have to deal with him later and that could get tricky." _

"_Sam is not our problem."_ Uriel snapped. _"Dean is our problem, if Sam becomes a problem we'll deal with him and that's final." _

"Not likely." Chloe muttered tossing a strawberry into her mouth as she poured a cup of coffee. Castiel had been bringing Sam up every day for the past month and he wasn't going to stop just because Uriel said that it was final. Chloe understood it, the things she'd heard about what Sam was doing, what he was becoming, Chloe understood why Castiel wanted to help.

"What's not likely?" A voice that was not in her head asked quite loudly.

Chloe spun around holding a strawberry in her hands and she smiled slightly. "Clark!" She motioned to the coffee pot. "Can I pour you a cup?"

"Sure." Clark walked in the room. "What's not likely?"

"Nothing, I was just thinking out loud." Chloe poured Clark a cup of coffee and brought it over to him. "Sit, I feel like I haven't seen you in months."

"You haven't." Clark said. "You haven't seen anyone in months. You've been avoiding everyone and not answering any calls and it's actually pure luck that I managed to catch you."

"I just talked to Lois." Chloe set the cup of coffee in front of Clark and smiled.

"That was two months ago Chloe, when you cancelled the wedding." Clark pointed out sipping the coffee then spitting it all over the floor.

"Oh God, is it hot?" Chloe jumped up to grab a napkin.

"No, the temperature is fine." Clark wiped his mouth as Chloe mopped up the floor. "It's the consistency. Sort of like a triple shot of molasses."

"Yeah." Chloe blushed. "Yeah I'm trying out something a little stronger these days." She walked back to the kitchen, grabbing the bottle of aspirin and swallowing three. The aspirin dulled the voices and if she mixed it with caffeine that could turn them down to almost a dull roar for most of the day.

Unfortunately there were still times when they all talked at once or there was some sort of meeting with the voices and Chloe was bombarded like that first day and no matter how much aspirin or coffee she'd had that day it completely debilitated her. That's where Castiel came in. Chloe remembered Clark telling her about when he first got his super hearing and he was inundated with sound, all sound all the time. He told her that he just concentrated on one sound, one voice, and that drowned out all the rest. She couldn't stop what she called the "voice coma", she just learned the signs, escalating headache and shaky hands meant that she had about five minutes to get somewhere soft before she shut down. She was only able to ride it out by finder her one voice, her one clear, concise, soothing voice and that voice was Castiel's.

The alcohol did a really good job of numbing the voices but it also left Chloe in a constant state of inebriation. She realized that after a week of constantly being drunk at some point she was going to have to take charge of whatever was happening to her and live her life. So that's what she did. She learned the perfect balance of aspirin and caffeine. She found some meditative techniques to help calm her down when it got too overwhelming and she had Castiel. Something about him, the tone of his voice, the deep comforting rumble that seemed to not only resonate in her head but through her whole body, easing her taught muscles and relaxing her immediately.

The problem was that she didn't usually get complete conversations. Voices overlapped and before she could finish listening to one thing, they would be overwhelmed by another conversation. She was writing everything down she heard, everything she could remember. She was trying to put the pieces together to form a complete picture of what was going on but as much as they talked, they didn't really say a lot so she still didn't know much.

There was a woman name Lilith, well Chloe said woman, they, the voices, said demon. Yes, demon. According to the voices, who were actually Angels of the Lord, demons were real. Demons, Vampires, Ghosts, Ghouls, Werewolves, Shapeshifters, you name it, it's real, it's out there and barely no one knows. There were these seals and Lilith had to open 66 out of 600 to bring about the end of the world, hell on earth, the rise of Lucifer and all that good stuff.

The bright spot in all of this was the second most talked about topic among the Angels. There were two guys, brothers, out there called Sam and Dean who were trying to stop Lilith. They were called hunters, their jobs, their lives really, was hunting supernatural things, keeping the world safe. Dean was apparently the only one on earth who could stop Lilith from doing her whole hell on earth thing and though Chloe knew why, she didn't like to think about it. Sam in a misguided attempt to help his older brother was dabbling in some serious bad stuff and Castiel was worried about him for good reason. Castiel's job was to protect and help Dean in his quest to stop Lilith.

Chloe had done her own research, the one thing she did best and found out far more than she wanted to know. The only thing she couldn't find were Sam and Dean. According to the FBI database, Sam and Dean Winchester perished in a helicopter explosion in Colorado but she knew that wasn't true, in fact she could be fairly certain that 80% of what was in their official files was basically bullshit. She'd come across random references to "the Winchesters" on the Web every now and then but it never gave her a clue about where they were or how to find them.

Chloe knew, though she wasn't sure how, she just knew that Dean was the reason she was hearing these voices. She knew that she needed to find him, and help him somehow. Chloe could pretty much guarantee that her quest for Sam and Dean was the reason that Clark was there right now. "So what brings you over here?" Chloe asked nervously.

"My name and password were used to log into the Planet system remotely and apparently after I got in I used that to get into Tess' personal files and rummage around for a good thirty minutes."

"Wow." Chloe said with her eyes wide. "Did you find anything good?"

"Chloe." Clark glared at her.

"Ok, fine. I needed to see something in her files." Chloe winced. She had the computers at the Isis Foundation running multiple search programs with any and every piece of information Chloe could get from the voices and for a second she wondered if they weren't connected to Lex and via Lex to Tess. So she'd hacked into the Planet and then Tess' files but she didn't find anything. "I was in sort of a hurry and I guess I didn't cover my tracks as well as I thought I did."

"I could have gotten fired for that." Clark told her.

"But you didn't." Chloe smiled. "Look, I'm sorry. Next time I'll cover my tracks better."

"No Chloe, no next time." Clark shook his head.

"Oh." Chloe looked at him for a second. "Sure, fine, no next time." She stood up. "Look I'm really busy so if you could lock up on your way out I'd appreciate it." She grabbed her bag and walked to the door.

"Chloe!" Clark called after her. Chloe turned around sighing. "I know the thing with Jimmy was hard. I feel responsible and I don't know what to do to help you here."

"Clark." Chloe smiled at him. "I'm fine. I'm fine with the wedding, I'm fine with not marrying Jimmy. It wouldn't have worked I know that and it had nothing to do with you ok. I'm just working on something big for Oliver right now and I haven't had a lot of time for anything else."

"Oh." Clark seemed to relax slightly. "Well do me a favor, could you at least call Lois? She's confused, she's hurt and she's pissed and she's taking all that out on me."

"I'll call her tonight." Chloe assured him.

"Ok." Clark walked over and headed for the door, pausing for a second before kissing her forehead then walking away.

Chloe sighed and grabbed her bag. Clark was right, she'd been out of pocket for months now, splitting her time between sleep and searching for Sam and Dean at the Foundation. It was probably time to rejoin the real world, or at the very least put in an appearance. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed a number. "Hey Lois, yeah sorry I haven't called but this thing with Jimmy was a little intense and I just needed some space." Chloe smiled as Lois assured her that it was cool, she hadn't even noticed that Chloe hadn't called. "Yeah I'm always up for a little karaoke. Tomorrow night at seven ok?" She hung up the phone feeling much better.

* * *

Chloe needed a pen, she needed a pen and she needed it now. She'd been on her way home from karaoke with Lois, they were contemplating finding an afterhour's bar to keep the evening going when Uriel and Castiel started up a conversation.

Uriel had asked Castiel where Sam and Dean were and Castiel mentioned that they were at some school in Indiana that they had gone to as kids investigating a strange death. If she could find that school, find that death, maybe just maybe she could find them. The problem was her phone was dead and she didn't have anything to write the name of the town down with. Ever since the voices showed up Chloe's short term memory was shot because it wasn't easy to concentrate on remembering something when there were hundreds of people talking in her head.

Chloe begged out of the after hours, promising a reprisal sometime next week and headed for the Isis Foundation instead. She grabbed the coffee cup she'd grabbed at the gas station with her teeth, put her key in the lock and dug down in the bottom of her bag bust still no freaking pen. The door to the Isis Foundation opened just as Castiel and Uriel's argument escalated. She wasn't ready for the sudden increase in noise and her jaw clenched, biting straight through the Styrofoam of the cup. It fell towards the ground and Chloe jumped to get out of the way from the inevitable mess it would make when a hand grabbed it out of thin air.

"Whoa." Oliver said as Chloe looked up. "Did you see that?" He smiled and looked at the cup. "I didn't spill like a single drop." Chloe smiled weakly and pushed past him to her desk. She grabbed a pen and started scribbling on her hand frantically.

When she didn't answer or even acknowledge him Oliver did it for her. "Oh, Hello Oliver. Thank you ever so much for saving my coffee." Oliver said in a high pitched breathy voice that Chloe supposed was her. "You're always such the consummate gentlemen."

"It was nothing." Oliver said in his regular voice. "Just helping out a friend."

"I'm so glad you were there." He went back to the high pitched voice. "You're always there when I need you, and you're reflexes were so sharp, one would almost say cat like."

"Ok." Chloe dropped the pen and turned to him. "I don't sound like that. I don't talk like that. It sounded like some strange cross between Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Bennet. Also, I would never describe you're reflexes as cat like."

"Who the hell is Elizabeth Bennet?" Oliver walked over to the chair and sat down.

"Pride and Prejudice?" Chloe looked over at him. "Jane Austin?" He still looked confused. "Never mind, no actually not never mind, read a book once in a while."

"Whatever." Oliver said. "You do to talk like that."

"When have I ever uttered the phrases "ever so much" or "consummate gentlemen"?" Chloe asked him.

"Ok, maybe you just talk like that in my head." Oliver conceited with a smile.

"I'm sorry, what are you doing here?" She asked him. "Did we have an appointment?"

"Just dropping this off." He pulled a case out of his bag and Chloe sighed in relief.

"Gimmie, gimmie, gimmie." She wiggled her fingers at him. It was her computer, her baby. She and Victor had worked together to build it from the ground up. Oliver provided her with whatever tech she asked for, no questions asked. It was specifically designed for Chloe and what she needed it for, which was mainly JLA business and helping Clark with the Meteor infected. It had taken six months to get it completed and she loved it with every fiber of her being. Only when she started the search for Sam and Dean she found it slightly lacking and sent it off to Victor to update a few things for her, add some bells and whistles.

"You didn't have to bring it personally." Chloe took the computer from him, feeling instantly better just having it close enough to touch.

"Oh it was no problem I was coming into town anyway. Also I wanted to check up and see how you were doing on that huge project you're working on for me." He smiled as Chloe looked at him confused, then slightly embarrassed. "Look, I don't mind if you want to use me as an excuse for something but a heads up would be nice."

"I'm really sorry." Chloe bit her lip.

"Clark showed up in my office in Star City demanding to know why I was working you so hard. He wanted to know what could possibly be so important I was requiring you to work on it day and night ignoring everyone else in your life." Oliver crossed his arms over his chest.

"Oliver." Chloe tried to explain.

"I was wondering that myself. What you could possibly be doing that was so important that you wouldn't want Clark to know about, when I found this." He grabbed the remote for the computer room and as Chloe stepped forward, trying to stop him, he pushed the button. The doors slid open and Chloe cringed as he looked at the walls. "I've seen this before Chloe." He turned to her concerned. "When you had an alien supercomputer in your head that was erasing all your memories."

"It's not like that this time." Chloe pushed forward and looked at the room. She hadn't properly looked at it in a while and it was slightly frightening. Every available surface was covered with newspaper articles, police reports, pictures, even a few blog entries. Anything she could find that would lead her to either a seal or the boys. She'd racked up tons of frequent flyer miles in the past few months chasing one lead after another and coming up short. She'd met with a ton of people who'd come across a Sam and Dean, different last name every time, usually that of a classic rock star, but they didn't know how to get in touch with them or even who they really were.

One day she thought she'd hit pay dirt when she came across a website called Ghostfacers. She almost brushed it off at first, it was obvious that the guys were idiots but then she heard them mention the Winchesters and she flew to Wisconsin immediately. Two hours in their headquarters, which was one of the guy's basements, she was relatively assured that they were idiots, but they also knew the Winchesters. They claimed to have Sam's personal cell phone number but when she finally wrangled it out of them and called it, it had been disconnected.

"I'm looking for someone." Chloe finally said.

"Who?" Oliver asked her.

"I don't know." Chloe admitted. "Well his name is Dean."

"Why do you need to find Dean so badly?" Oliver asked and Chloe said the first thing that popped into her head without knowing why or what it meant.

"To save the world." Oliver sighed. "Ok, wait that sounded crazy and I'm not crazy." Chloe was practically pleading with him to believe her.

"I don't think you're crazy." Oliver assured her. "I just want to know what's going on."

Chloe looked at him for a minute. Maybe it would be better if someone else knew; maybe it would make it easier. If Oliver knew he could help her and she wouldn't feel so alone in this quest. She took a deep breath, sat down in the chair and started at the beginning.

Almost an hour later Oliver was just staring at her, trying to process it all. "So these voices, in your head, you think they're Angels? And the Angels are talking about a Demon named Lilith who is trying to free Lucifer from hell and these hunters, Sam and Dean, who kill Ghosts and Vampires and werewolves, are trying to top her and you need to help them."

"God, when you say it like that it sounds crazy." Chloe buried her head in her hands and looked up at him so lost, running her fingers through her hair. "Maybe I am crazy, maybe this whole thing is crazy and I should be locked away. Lord knows I wouldn't be the first Sullivan committed to a loony bin."

"No one's saying loony bin." Oliver stood up.

"Yeah well you shouldn't completely rule it out." Chloe said. "I just thought if I could find Sam and Dean then they were real, that meant what I was hearing was real and that meant I wasn't crazy."

"Look Chloe I wouldn't know where to start trying to explain something like this. I do know that I don't think you're crazy and if you honestly believe there are two guys out there named Sam and Dean trying to stop the end of the world, I believe you." Chloe smiled sweetly at him. "But I also know that Brainiac did a number on you, he was in your head for six months and we don't know what kind of damage he left behind. I'm not saying crazy but maybe it's not a meteor power."

"You think that Brainiac messed up my brain?" Chloe asked, that thought never even entering her head. "Crossed some wires or something?"

"It's possible isn't it?" Oliver asked her. Chloe opened her mouth to protest but the truth of the matter, even in her world of meteor infected and aliens from another planet, it made more sense that she was hallucinating. She actually liked the idea more, she knew she'd sleep better at night knowing that she had wires crossed in her brain than that there really was a monster in her closet. But she knew in her heart that they were real, that all of it was real.

"No." Chloe whispered, tears in her eyes. "You don't understand Oliver, I know this is real."

Oliver sighed and tried a different tactic. "Would it be a bad thing to at least have it checked out?" Oliver walked over to her. "I know a doctor in town who specializes in Meta's. Why don't we let him have a look? Just to be on the safe side."

She never should have told him, she knew that now, he wasn't ready, he couldn't handle it. She needed to get out of this or he would go running to Clark and then everything would fall apart. So that meant going along with the whole Doctor thing. "Yeah ok." Chloe nodded numbly.

Oliver smiled relieved and stood up helping her to the door. Almost as if they knew what she was doing, almost as if in protest, a very sudden argument broke out in her head. It was so loud and unexpected that it doubled her over in pain. "Chloe?" Oliver grabbed her arms concerned.

"I'm fine." She gritted her teeth and stood up. "Let's go." She wanted to get this over with.

* * *

Oliver handed Chloe her fourth cup of crappy hospital coffee while they waited for Dr. Pearson to come back with the results of her brain scan. "You didn't have to stay." Chloe told him.

"What kind of guy do you think I am?" He nudged her shoulder. "I don't just tell a woman her brain is probably screwed up and then leave her alone at the hospital in the middle of an MRI." Chloe smiled at him and sipped her disgusting coffee.

"Well, here we go." Dr. Emil walked in and smiled at the two of them. "You're scans were very interesting."

"So there is something wrong?" Chloe asked surprised and confused.

"I'm not sure I'd say wrong." Dr. Emil explained. "Just different. Something I've never seen before."

"Is it linked to the meteor rocks?" Oliver asked.

"No." Dr. Emil said. "I've seen her previous scans and all her blood work up from your doctor in Star City. This isn't the same thing." He shook his head. Chloe remembered that horrendous week after she agreed to become Watchtower full time. Oliver made her submit to medical test after medical test with his doctor to try and get a grip on her powers.

"How can you be sure?" Chloe asked him.

"Miss Sullivan I've worked with quite a few of the meteor infected, Meta's I believe you call them and I've isolated the basic type of cell mutation that causes the powers. For example in your case, the healing, your mutation occurs in the hematopoietic stem cell."

"That's what produces white blood cells right?" Chloe asked.

"Exactly." Dr. Emil nodded. "White blood cells are the things in our bodies that fight infection, that in a sense heal us."

"So if the voices were part of some new meteor power there would be a corresponding mutation to support that." Oliver caught on.

"In a form of super hearing you would see the mutation in the inner ear. If this was some sort of psychic thing you would see the mutation in the brain. Her brain has no mutations; it just seems to be working overtime. She's got constant activity happening in parts of the brain that have always been dark. She's got synapses firing all over the place and her brain is producing chemicals that we didn't even know it could produce at an alarming rate."

"And that would explain auditory hallucinations." Oliver asked and Chloe started to wonder when she lost control of this meeting.

"It would explain everything." The doctor got up. "The voices, the incapacitating headaches. Her brain is doing things that her body can't handle and quite a few signals are being crossed along the way."

"So they aren't real?" Oliver said, glancing at Chloe. "There is no Castiel? No Sam or Dean?"

"No, just an over abundance of chemicals and haywire electricity." Dr. Emil smiled.

"No." Chloe jumped up suddenly and looked between Oliver and the Doctor. "You're wrong."

"Sadly Ms. Sullivan. I am not." Dr. Emil shook his head. "I'd like to admit her tonight, get her started on some anti-anxiety and some base inhibitors see what kind of scans we can get while she sleeps."

"Hold on." Chloe shook her head; this had definitely not gone the way she wanted. "I'm not staying overnight, I'm not admitting myself, and I'm definitely not taking any medication."

"Ms. Sullivan." Dr. Emil stood up. "I'm afraid you have no say in the matter. I won't inform the proper authorities right away as a favor to Mr. Queen, but you're not going anywhere."

"You're kidding me." Chloe whispered.

"Chloe, he's trying to help you." Oliver insisted.

"You knew." Chloe looked at him. "You planned this, when you found the room."

"Angels? Demons? Seals? Ultimate battle between good and evil being fought by two guys named Sam and Dean?" Oliver looked at her. "Chloe I'm trying to help you."

"No." Chloe said. "You're trying to commit me. I'm out of here. I can't believe I trusted you."

She turned around and froze in her tracks, two very large men were flanking the doors. "As cliché as this sounds, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way."

Oliver stayed long enough to help her get settled in her room, promised to bring her computer by in the morning and swore that he would visit and not say anything to anyone until she was ready. Chloe just glared as she changed into a hospital gown, climbed into bed and took the pills all while being supervised by the eagle eye of Nurse Cratchet. The pills were supposed to put her to sleep, disrupt her messed up neural brain waves and stop the voices. When she didn't take them immediately the nurse looked at Chloe. "Could I have five minutes?" She asked checking her watch.

"What for?" The nurse eyed her suspiciously.

"Just…never mind, it's nothing." Chloe shrugged and downed the pills, lying back to close her eyes. It was just everyday around this time Castiel prayed. Generally it was the Lord's prayer, nothing fancy but it was oddly comforting to Chloe and she would have liked to hear it one last time, even if it wasn't real.

"Our Father, who art in heaven." Chloe smiled as she heard him start praying, hoping the medicine would hold off until he was done but her sedative kicked in before he even made it to hallowed.

* * *

Oliver was talking to her. Chloe knew that, he was sitting by her bed reading her the paper but she couldn't hold on to more than one word at a time, the medicine did that. She looked over at him and he stopped reading. "You're not getting any of this are you?" He sighed. "I'm sorry, I just don't know what to do."

"Just talk to me." Chloe said slowly, weighing every word as it left her mouth. She'd been three weeks without the voices and her head had gotten pretty lonely. She'd wanted to believe, and had believed up until a week ago that they were real, the voices, the people, but the fact that the medicine was working, was stopping her from hearing the voices was making her doubt, making her think maybe it was just her brain, maybe she was just crazy. She knew one thing for sure, she missed Castiel. "Tell me about Bart."

Oliver smiled and went on to tell a story that involved Bart, a donkey, and two tons of manure. Chloe laughed where she assumed she should based on Oliver's expression but it wasn't funny to her. She knew it should be funny, in her head logic told her that Bart plus donkey plus crap equaled funny but the meds were killing her slowly. "When can I come home?" She asked and then realized by the look on Oliver's face she'd just interrupted him.

"I don't know." Oliver's voice sounded a bit choked up and Chloe frowned at him. "They're trying to help you they really are but your latest scans show more activity and in turn they have to give you more medicine and then you're…" He motioned to her current state and she understood. Her brain was so screwed up to stop it they had to give her enough medication to shut almost all her functions down, turning her into what basically amounted to a vegetable.

"The voices were better." Chloe smiled slightly and a look passed Oliver's face briefly, a look Chloe knew was doubt. He was doubting if he'd done the right thing. Sure before he brought her here she was hearing voices but she was managing it and the doctor never said anything about it being fatal or even damaging. Now that she was here she was a mere shell of her former self.

"I'm sorry." Oliver grabbed her hand and squeezed it lightly.

Suddenly and without warning a sharp pain shot through Chloe's skull, a pain she hadn't felt in weeks. She cried out, crushing Oliver's hand in hers and Castiel's voice penetrated the machines and the medicine for the first time in three weeks. "_Help me." _He pleaded with her and tears fell at the desperation she could hear.

Chloe closed her eyes as another round of blinding pain attacked her and suddenly she couldn't see the hospital anymore.

_A dark highway and a street sign, a black car sped by, it looked old, classic. _

_A motel sign blinking a vacancy and the same classic black car pull into the lot. It parked and two guys walked out. "Sam." The shorter guy said tossing the taller one his keys. "Grab the bags I'll check in."_

"_I'm not your butler Dean." Sam scoffed. "Get your own damn bag." _

Chloe couldn't believe it. Sam and Dean, it was her Sam and Dean. She just knew.

_Sam and Dean in the motel room. Dean was flipping through a book while Sam was doing something on a computer. Suddenly a man was standing in the middle of the room, Dean and Sam didn't seem surprised, just slightly annoyed. "Cas." Dean stood up slowly. "What are you doing here?" _

_Castiel looked around the room. "They said you were in danger." _

_Dean and Sam looked at each other confused. "In danger from what exactly?" Dean looked around the room. "Bad motel porn?" _

"_They said…" Castiel tilted his head to the side and then he held up a hand. "Stay in the room, don't do anything until I get back." _

_Dean and Sam looked at each other confused. "We weren't planning on it." Dean said to him but Castiel was already gone. _

Chloe blinked and saw Oliver and a nurse staring at her frantically. Something was wrong something was very wrong. She tried to stand up, get off the bed when another vision hit.

_Castiel was in the woods walking through quietly, glancing around for what he didn't know. He stopped suddenly in the clearing and tilted his head to the side. He saw something move in the tree line ahead of him a shadow, so fast that the human eye never would have caught it. He followed it and noticed more shadows flying through the trees. Suddenly the shadows were coming at him, flying around him, knocking into him and creating a sort of whirlwind around him. "That's enough." Castiel said and the shadows suddenly stopped and the wind died. "Show yourselves." _

_In two seconds he was surrounded. Angel's came out from every space between the trees. Castiel looked at them confused, all the Angel's were members of his garrison and he hadn't called them here. "What happened?" Castiel asked. "Why are you all here?" They didn't say anything, just stared at him and circled him. "They said the Winchester's were in danger, what's the danger?" Castiel stopped suddenly realizing what was going on. _

"_We're the danger." A woman stepped forward smiling, flashing her wings for effect._

"_Muriel." Castiel said in a whisper. "You've fallen." He looked at the others. "You've all fallen." _

"_Fallen is such a negative word." Muriel stepped closer and slipped her hands in her pockets. "We like to think of it as…finally seeing the light." _

_  
"There is only one light." Castiel argued with them. "The light of the lord." _

_Muriel scoffed. "You can't still believe that can you? After everything that's happened?"_

"_I believe God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth." Castiel said defiantly._

"_Told you, always the good little soldier." Someone from the other side of him called out. Castiel moved to fight, to defend himself but he was overpowered in seconds._

"_He'll never turn." Another Angel said. _

"_Then we'll have to get rid of him." Muriel smiled._

_Castiel was forced to his knees and he closed his eyes. "And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit." Castiel continued. "Born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate…" _

"Was crucified, died and was buried." Chloe said the prayer with him as the vision took her over completely from her position on the floor, where she'd fallen. "He descended into hell."

"Chloe!" Oliver screamed at her as she stared vacantly at the wall reciting some sort of prayer. He tried to pull her into the bed but it was as if her bones had turned to mush, heavy mush.

"From thence he will come to judge the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end." Chloe said, tears rolling down her cheek.

_Muriel grabbed Castiel's face in her hands tutting her disapproval at him_.

"Chloe, come on you're really freaking me out." Oliver had given up trying to get her back in bed and was just hoping for her to snap out of it.

_Muriel pulled something from her back pocket and slammed it into Castiel's throat._

"The communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, forever and ever." Chloe suddenly gasped and grabbed her throat. Her legs gave out from under her and Oliver struggled to keep her standing. "Amen." Chloe whispered collapsing against Oliver unconscious.

A nurse helped Oliver lift Chloe into the bed and then ran off to get a doctor. Oliver was situating her in the bed when her eyes shot open and she sat up gasping. "It's ok." Oliver tried to calm her. "I've got you."

"I have to go." Chloe said suddenly completely coherent. Tossing the covers off of her and swinging her feet to the side.

"Go?" Oliver asked confused. "Go where?"

"I don't know." Chloe said. "But I have to go now. I only have twelve hours to get there." She jumped off the bed and Oliver grabbed her shoulders.

"You aren't going anywhere Chloe. You're sick." Oliver said. "You need help."

"I'm not." Chloe smiled at him. "I'm not sick. Don't you see, I've seen them."

"You've seen them?" Oliver asked her. "What do you mean you've seen them?"

"I had some sort of vision." Chloe smiled. "I don't know what it was but I saw Dean, I saw Sam. I saw him." Chloe whispered. "Castiel, oh God, they're going to kill him." She started to move forward again and Oliver grabbed both her arms this time.

"Ok, Chloe look at me, whatever's going on with you, it just got worse. You've moved from auditory to visual hallucinations."

"It's not a hallucination." Chloe argued. "You don't understand. And I don't have the time to explain it to you." She frowned. "I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?" Oliver asked. "You have nothing to be sorry about."

"I really do." Chloe bit her lip and grabbed the phone on the bedside table, smashing it into the side of Oliver's head. He let go of her, falling to the ground and she grabbed her computer and ran out of the room. She didn't knock him out, she knew that so she only had so much time before he came after her. She walked down the hallway at a quick pace, peaking into rooms, trying to find a room that had someone similar in size to herself. She found one and slipped in quietly, careful not to wake the woman up and grabbed her clothes from the closet.

"She can't have gotten far." Chloe heard Oliver from down the hall.

"Shit." Chloe said slipping out of the room. She made her way into the stairwell and down to the ground floor, changing into the clothes she'd stolen before stepping out into the street. Unfortunately she neglected to grab a pair of shoes so she was running around barefoot. She got her bearings and smiled. Her emergency getaway was less than two blocks from the hospital. Even Oliver didn't know about her contingency plans. Always be prepared was not just the boy scout motto.

She made her way to the parking garage using back alleys and climbed to the third floor. Chloe smiled when she saw her car exactly where she'd parked it. She reached under the rear wheel, pulled out a set of keys and climbed in. Chloe opened the glove compartment and pulled out an envelope, checking that her emergency money was still there and turned the car on. As she pulled onto the highway she looked up at the sky and was surprised to see Mars as clear as day in the night sky. She stared at it for a while, automatically reciting the mythology in her head. Mars, or Ares was the God of war. As she got closer and closer to her intended destination and the planet was still with her almost guiding her, showing her the way, she couldn't help but think about the fact that it was leading her right into the middle of a war. She just hoped that when it was all over, there was something to lead her back out.

Author's Extra: This installment contains a missing scene. Initially Chloe meeting the "Ghostfacers" was compeletely fleshed out with dialogue and everything. The chapter was running long and it wasn't essential to the storyline but it was fun to write, so I ended up cutting it. But I'll give you guys a proposition. If i get enough reviews I'll post it as a "Deleted Scene" at the end of the story.


	3. Sirius

Author's Note: I want to clear up a little misconception. Oliver didn't have her committed, in fact Dr. Emil points out that he's working around the system to keep her out of the mental institution. They're trying to take care of so they don't have to commit her. I'm not entirely certain that it matters one way or the other as far as storyline goes it's just I never intended it to be taken that Oliver had her committed.

* * *

"So you can hear the Angels?" Dean asked her. "In their true voices?"

"I suppose." Chloe nodded.

"Just like Anna." Sam pointed out. "Is she…"

"No." Castiel shook his head.

Chloe was about to ask what exactly she wasn't when she looked at the table. "Is that my computer?" She asked Sam.

"Oh, yeah, we thought it might…"

Castiel stood suddenly and tilted his head. He brought a finger to his lips and Dean listened carefully. "Did you hear that?" Dean asked Sam. He turned around to grab for the shotgun leaning against the wall when the door flew off the hinges into the room. A red blur flew past Dean and Sam, knocking Sam down. Dean lifted the gun to fire but dropped it when something grazed the top of his hand slicing it open. He looked past him as the thing embedded itself in the wall. "An arrow?" He asked astonished. "Seriously?"

"Wait." Chloe tried to protest but a hand was thrown over her mouth and she was pulled backwards.

Dean started to retrieve the gun when a deep voice stopped him. "I wouldn't even think about it if I were you."

"What the hell is going on here?" Bobby asked.

The hand was pulled from Chloe's mouth abruptly and she heard something slam hard into the wall behind her. She risked a look and saw Castiel holding a familiar body up against the wall by his throat. She grabbed the shotgun Dean had dropped, aimed for the ceiling and pulled the trigger. "I said wait." Chloe panted, the shotgun in her hand and covered in plaster dust from where she'd shot a hole in the ceiling.

Chloe surveyed the people in the room and glared. "AC, fix the door." She looked around. "Victor, let him up." She said to the guy holding Sam on the ground. "And Oliver, put down the bow." They all just stared at her. "Now." She set the shotgun on the ground and AC picked up the door as Victor helped Sam up. The guy she'd called Oliver slowly lowered the bow and pushed back his hood then took off his glasses.

"I think I broke it." AC said sheepishly.

"There's a tool box in the shed." Bobby said annoyed. "Follow me."

"FYI, it was unlocked." Chloe said angrily.

"My bad." AC said ducking his head and following Bobby outside.

"What should I do with this one?" Castiel asked.

"Let him down." Chloe sighed watching as Bart struggled to break free.

"Are you sure?" Castiel looked over at him. "He tried to kidnap you."

"Let him go." Chloe smiled. Castiel dropped Bart to the ground and he rubbed his throat coughing.

"I wasn't kidnapping her you idiot." Bart scrambled to his feet. "I was rescuing her from you."

"Rescuing?" Dean scoffed.

Chloe turned to Oliver. "What are you doing here? How did you even find me?"

"Tracked your phone." Oliver said.

"I dropped my phone in a garbage truck in Metropolis." Chloe put her hands on her hips.

"Your watch has a tracker in it." Oliver pointed out.

"Yeah, mailed my watch to Leningrad just to mess with you." Chloe smirked at him. "You don't think I knew about the tracker."

"I told you she wouldn't go to Russia." Bart looked at Oliver annoyed. "I had to spend a day over there searching for you."

"So how'd you really find me?" Chloe asked. "And before you embarrass yourself. I gave the earrings you gave me for my birthday with the tracker to a woman at a rest stop in Alabama."

"You put a tracker in her birthday present?" Victor asked. "That's low."

"I put a tracker in everything I give to Chloe." Oliver smiled. "Cause she can't seem to stay out of trouble."

Chloe froze for a second. "Everything you give me?"

"Chloe, wait." Oliver stepped forward. She walked to the table and picked up her computer up.

"You wouldn't." She stared at him.

"Chloe." Oliver held up a hand as she took the back panel off staring down into the circuitry of the computer. She slowly reached in rooting around until she came out with a small electronic device.

"You bugged my computer?" Oliver seemed genuinely ashamed. "This is sacred to me. It took Victor and I six months to build this thing and you…you sullied it."

"You have to understand…" Oliver tried to defend himself. Chloe dropped the chip to the floor and stepped on it, a glare on her face. "Or you can do that."

"I can't believe you would…what would possess you too…" Chloe was so angry she couldn't seem to from complete sentences.

"Well it is a fifty thousand dollar computer." Oliver joked and the look on Chloe's face made his smile go away. "What was I supposed to do Chloe?" He yelled realizing now that he knew she was fine, he was pissed. "Last time I saw you, you were in hearing voices. You were convinced that there were Angels and Demons locked in a battle for the good of humanity, then you say you had a vision, proceed to knock me out, sneak out of the hospital and disappear for a week. What was I supposed to do?"

"You were supposed to trust me in the first place." Chloe yelled at him. "You were supposed to believe me when I said that something was going on and not bring me to a doctor who wanted to mess around with my apparently already fucked up brain."

"I was trying to help you." He protested.

"How is medicating me until I can't think straight trying to help Oliver?" Chloe asked him. "You want to explain that?"

"If I could…" Dean tried to interject.

"Back off." Chloe and Oliver snapped at him.

"Ok, I'll be over here." Dean stepped away.

"Why didn't you go all the way? Why didn't you just stick me in Belle Reve? Have the crazy girl committed." Chloe asked.

"I would never do that to you, ever." Oliver said to her. "I didn't say you were crazy, I never thought you were crazy. I said you were sick. We don't know what Brainiac did to you, what he messed up."

"He didn't do anything." Chloe shook her head. "Oliver, I'd like you to meet Sam and Dean Winchester." They nodded confused at the guy in the green leather. "And Castiel." She motioned to the man who had been holding Bart up.

Oliver looked around the room in confusion. "You mean they're real?"

"Just like I said they were." Chloe told him.

"Wait, you mean to tell me that dude's an Angel?" Bart asked skeptical as AC and Bobby walked in and started to fix the door.

"Yeah." Dean nodded. "Angel of the Lord, wings and halo and all that stuff."

"I don't have a halo." Castiel frowned.

"But you have wings?" Bart was looking at his back. "I don't see any wings." He reached out and poked the Angel who turned on him annoyed. Suddenly the lights flickered and the shadow of massive feathered wings erupted from Castiel's back. "Holy shit." Bart ran to the other side of the room. "I'm sorry, that was rude, I didn't mean that. Shit's not holy, obviously."

Victor slapped Bart in the back of his head and he shut up. Oliver sat down just staring at Chloe. "Oliver?"

"I didn't listen to you." Oliver hung his head. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine." Chloe assured him.

"No it's completely not fine." Oliver shook his head. "In no way what I did to you was remotely fine."

Chloe sat down next to him. "If you had come to me and said what I said to you, I probably wouldn't have believed you either."

"You would have." Oliver turned to her. "You believe everyone, you never doubt anyone. You even believed Bart when he told you that years of running at super speed was causing his molecules to vibrate apart, and if you didn't find a way to stop it, he would explode."

"That was sweet." Bart smiled.

"He had you waiting on him hand and foot for a week." Victor remembered.

"Yeah that was a good one." Chloe grudgingly admitted.

"She is incredibly gullible." AC said from the doorway.

"I should have trusted you." Oliver sighed.

"Yeah, you should have." Chloe nudged his shoulder and smiled. "Look, don't worry about it."

Oliver looked up and noticed that everyone in the room was staring at them. "Hey Bart." Chloe turned around. "Could you run back to my place, grab me some clothes and for the love of God a pair of shoes?"

"Be back in a minute." Bart winked at her and ran out of the house.

"Victor could you…" He smiled and grabbed her computer.

"Way ahead of you." He sat down and started to put it back together.

In less than a minute Bart was back holding a duffel bag and Chloe kissed his cheek as she dug a pair of shoes out and slipped them on. "You're the best you know that."

"Well, I try." Bart blushed.

"You're not coming back home are you?" Oliver asked her.

"There's something I have to do here, I don't know what yet but I know it's important." Chloe told him.

"Fine." Oliver pulled a few things out of his pocket. "Phone." He tossed it to Chloe. "Watch." He tossed something else. "Earrings."

"How did you get all these back?" Chloe slipped the phone in her pocket.

"Bart tracked them all down." Oliver smiled as she put the watch on. "I had to buy the earrings back for twice what I paid in the first place." Chloe laughed. "Keep the phone on yeah? Call me at least once a week or I'll be back."

"Yes sir." Chloe smiled.

"And if you're expecting to get paid for this little adventure here, I expect you to keep up with your Watchtower work remotely." Oliver said.

"Duh. If I let you guys do anything on your own, you'd end up storming some random house, and breaking things and shooting at innocent people." Chloe smiled.

"Point taken." Oliver looked up at Sam, Dean, and Bobby. "Sorry about the…invasion."

"No problem." Sam assured him.

"Could you put in your password. I want to make sure it's running ok." Victor spun the computer toward Chloe. "You know I can't get the hang of that Kryptonian stuff."

Chloe smiled and grabbed the computer. "How do you put a password in there?" Sam asked. "I tried to get into that thing for a week and I never got past this screen." Chloe just smiled at him, pushed a button on the side of the laptop, grabbed the top of the monitor and spun it around before laying it flat on top of the keyboard. "It's a tablet?" Sam asked astonished.

"It's a tablet." Chloe nodded pulling a stylus from the side of the computer and drawing what looked like a strange symbol on the top. The computer roared to life. "Speaking of Kryptonian." She turned to Oliver leaving Sam to oh and ah over her custom operating system with Victor. "I don't know how long I'm going to be here. The thing is, I just got Clark on the right track as far as following his destiny is concerned but he's not really so good on his own. He needs someone there to have his back, even if it's just someone to bounce his thoughts off of."

"Ok." Oliver frowned.

"I need you to do that for me, I need you to be the Sidekick to his Green Arrow ok?"

"Clark's not going to just go for that." Oliver pointed out to her. "He thinks he has to do everything on his own. You're the only one he lets help him."

"Just tell him that I said that while Kal-El might not need any help. Clark Kent does." Chloe offered.

"I'll try my best." Oliver said. "You're really ok here?"

"I'm good." Chloe assured him.

"Alright." He nodded at everyone else and stood up. "Let's move out."

Dean and Sam stared in amazement as, just as quickly as they arrived, they were all gone.

"What the hell was that?" Bobby finally asked.

"That was the Green Arrow." Sam said finally. "That superhero guy from Star City and Metropolis."

"Yeah I read about him." Dean nodded. "And his little team." They both turned to Chloe. "How do you know the Green Arrow?"

"He's sort of my boss." Chloe shrugged.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute. You called him Oliver." Sam said. "I knew I recognized him. That was Oliver Queen."

"No way, no freaking way." Dean smiled. "The Green Arrow is Oliver freaking Queen?"

"Ok." Chloe held up her hands. "That cannot leave this room. Understood?"

"Yeah sure." Dean and Sam nodded. "No problem."

"Great." Chloe let out a deep breath. "Thanks."

"How do you know those words?" Castiel asked suddenly.

"Great? Thanks?" Chloe asked confused. "I was taught by my mother to always be polite."

"Not that." Castiel looked at her seriously. "Kryptonian. Kal-El." He took a step closer. "How do you know those words?"

"How do you know those words?" Chloe stood up.

"Kryptonian is the language of the Angels." Castiel said. "I saw you write it on that screen. How do you have that knowledge?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Chloe shook her head confused.

Castiel stared at her for a second. "Krypton is a story, a prophecy if you will. It is written that in two thousand of your years the world will enter it's penultimate stage, technology will start to advance at such a rapid rate that all diseases will be cured. The world will unite itself under one central government, eventually moving out into the solar system. That stage will then transition into the final state of utopia. Crime will be all but abolished, pollution a thing of the past, technology, science, and religion will merge into one true philosophy. As a gift to the human race God will give them the language of the angels, Kryptonian, and from then on the world will become known as Krypton."

"Holy shit." Chloe sat back down heavily.

"Eventually everything will peak under the rule of the greatest leader the world will see, Jor-El, who will usher in the savior of mankind, the last son of Krypton, Kal-El." Castiel continued.

Chloe wasn't sure how but she knew that Castiel was telling the truth, just like she knew all those things that she heard, all those things that in her head, as fantastic as they sounded were the truth. "But I…He thought…we all thought." Chloe let out a half chuckle half gasp. She looked up at the Angel and told them her story. "Clark, my best friend, he's from Krypton." Chloe explained. "His name is Kal-El. His father was Jor-El. As Jor-El tells the tale, Krypton was dying, the planet had become unstable from the gravitational pull of it red sun. So Laura and Jor-El sent their son Kal-El, the last son of Krypton to earth."

"This is bat shit crazy." Dean whispered to Sam in awe.

"So what you're telling me is that Krypton is not an alien planet. That Clark's not an alien from another planet, he's just a further evolved human from the future?"

"Yes." Castiel nodded. "Now it finally makes sense."

"How does any of this make sense?" Chloe scoffed.

"It is written that Kal-El will be sent to save human kind. But he's born in a Utopia where human kind won't need saving. But if what your saying is true, that he was somehow sent back in time, then he was sent back to save his own people. So he's not only the last son of Krypton, he's also the first son of Krypton." Castiel said.

"My head is going to explode." Dean said.

"I can't believe all this time we just assumed he was an alien." Chloe said. "I mean the whole landing in the middle of a field, in a spaceship, during a meteor shower seemed obvious. But the powers were really the clincher."

"Powers?" Sam asked.

"Clark's powers, they were always different from the run of the mill meteor powers, he was different." Chloe said. "On Krypton, or I guess, in the future, the sun is red, it's larger than our sun, the people on his planet their DNA must have evolved because of it, different gamma rays, stronger gravitational pull. When they come here, our yellow sun and lower gravity seems to give them special abilities."

"Like what?" Dean scoffed. "Can he fly or something?"

"No." Chloe shook her head. "Well I mean supposedly he should be flying by now but for some reason he can't seem to get the hang of it." Dean frowned. "Um, he's super fast, faster than Bart, well there's still an ongoing debate about that. He can jump really high, over buildings, he can lift cars without a thought, shoot fire from his eyes, see through walls, hear from really far away and he's basically indestructible. You can shoot him, stab him, throw him in a fire and he'll come out no worse for the wear."

"Yeah." Dean snorted. "But he can't fly." Sam glared at him and slapped him in the head.

"I can't believe it." Chloe smiled. "Why didn't Jor-El ever mention any of this? It would have been helpful."

"By the time Jor-El comes to power, he probably wouldn't even remember earth. All he would know is Krypton. He would have no reason to believe that his planet and your planet were one in the same." Castiel mentioned.

"What about the rocks?" Chloe was mumbling to herself at this point, trying to work things out. "How do you explain the rocks."

"The ones that gave you your healing power?" Dean raised an eyebrow.

"I suppose the rocks could be debris, from the exploded planet, ricocheted back in time along with the space ship. It stands to reason then that their red sun could have imbued the rocks with some sort of futuristic radiation that can alter DNA." She was completely ignoring everyone else now. "This really changes everything."

"You understand any of this?" Dean stage whispered to Sam.

"Surprisingly, quite a bit." Sam nodded. "Chloe." Sam interrupted her thoughts. "Chloe?"

"Sorry, yeah, what?" Chloe turned to Sam.

"You said you were here for a reason." Sam asked her. "Do you know what that is?"

Chloe looked over at Dean. "I know it's about him."

"Me?" Dean asked.

"I think…I'm supposed to protect you?" Chloe said unsure of herself. "Or save you from something."

"You?" Dean looked at her. "You're going to save me?" Dean laughed.

"I don't know. I just know that everything I heard from them, the Angels was about you. I tried to ignore it and they wouldn't let me, I tried to get rid of the voices with medicine and they sent me the soul killing vision from hell. I was shown you , brought here to save Castiel, but I just know it's because you need him. Look, none of this makes any sense to me, but I know that I'm here to help you and I know that because ever since I've been here with you the voices have been so quiet I can almost ignore them. So I'm not going anywhere until I've done what I'm supposed to do because I think it's the only way to get the voices to stop completely."

"Ok." Dean shrugged.

"Ok?" Sam asked surprised. "You aren't going to protest? Tell her that this isn't her fight, it's something you have to do, you don't need some possibly crazy blonde chick following you around?"

"Hey!" Chloe protested at the "possibly crazy" remark.

"Look, I stopped trying to rationalize things after I was pulled from hell by an Angel of the Lord so that I could save the world from hell on earth. Chloe thinks she's got to protect me from something, who am I to say otherwise?"

"That's a very mature argument." Sam nodded.

"Yeah well she knows freaking Superheros." Dean added. "Bullet proof Superheros from the future. I'm not messing with that."

* * *

Chloe sat on the hood of the Lebaron and stared up at the sky. The South Dakota sky wasn't as different as the Kansas sky but she still felt out of place, like she couldn't get her bearings. She didn't want to admit it but ever since she'd woken up she felt strange in her own skin, like she didn't fit well any longer. She wriggled her shoulders and sighed unable to get comfortable. "Here." Dean said from beside her. Chloe turned her head and saw he was holding out a pillow and blanket. She lifted her head up and he put the pillow underneath it, climbing up on the hood next to her and handed her the blanket. She wrapped herself in the blanket and sighed. "Can't sleep?"

"I think I've done my share of sleeping for a while." Chloe smiled. Dean didn't have a comment for that. Chloe realized she'd made him slightly uncomfortable. "Your big dipper is down there." She pointed in the sky.

"Is it not supposed to be?" Dean asked anxiously.

"No it's…its fine." Chloe assured him. "I'm just used to it being up there. Different city, different sky." Chloe shrugged.

"You know a lot about stars?" Dean asked.

"Yeah." Chloe nodded. "I used to be pretty interested in the sky, the constellations, planets, solar systems." She turned to Dean. "It's the sort of thing you become interested in when your best friend is an alien from outer space." She paused. "Or well when you think your best friend is an alien from outer space."

"Makes sense." Dean said. "Do you know, you might be the only other person on this planet who can completely relate to how crazy our lives can be."

"Ditto." Chloe smiled at him.

They were quiet for a few more minutes and it was Dean who broke the silence this time. "So, what did you do to Castiel?"

"I healed him." Chloe shrugged. "If you're asking me to explain the actual medical process involved, I and several specialists that Oliver pays way too much and are far smarter than I have been working on figuring that out for the past year and half with nothing to show for it."

"No." Dean smiled. "I mean this wasn't normal. God, not that a girl who can heal people, die and come back to life is necessarily normal. It's just I get a feeling from him and from you that this time, this healing wasn't exactly run of the mill for you." Chloe opened her mouth to protest. "I mean you said yourself that you'd never been dead for that long a period of time. I don't exactly know you very well but you seem like you're dying to be anywhere but in your own skin at the moment and Castiel is acting like a freaking Mafia Don protecting his only daughter whenever you're. around."

"This was my first Angel healing so I can't tell you if it went exactly like clockwork."

"But it was different from your last healing?" Dean asked.

"My last healing before this one was small cut on Victor's temple." Chloe remembered. "It bled for like twenty seconds, I put a band aid on it and then went back to my regularly scheduled program so yeah I'd say it was slightly different."

"You know what I meant." Dean nudged her shoulder.

"Yes." Chloe said soberly. "This was very different from my regular healings."

"Do you want to…" Dean winced, he couldn't even believe he was about to be such a girl and ask her if she wanted to talk.

"No." Chloe shook her head. "I'll be fine." She assured him.

"You better be." Dean puffed up his chest. "If you're my new protector, you've got your work cut out for you."

"Is that so?" Chloe asked.

"I get into a lot of trouble all on my own." Dean told her. "And in case you missed story time earlier, I've got all of hell and most of heaven on my ass at the moment."

"I remember." Chloe assured him. "And don't think that's not adding to the whole inability to sleep thing."

"Really?" Dean frowned.

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm 5'4'' and about 130lbs." Chloe said. "I've been pretty well trained as far as hand to hand combat goes, it was a requirement of Oliver's and sort of a necessity growing up in meteor freak capital of the world." She sighed. "But I'm still just a girl and my powers are passive. Healing abilities don't mean squat in the middle of a fight for your life."

"First of all, there's no way that you're a pound over 115." Dean smirked at her. "Second of all, I realize that this whole calling from a higher power thing can be very confusing but if there's one thing I've learned is they don't give you a job you can't handle. So with that in mind, I doubt very highly that you're here to save my ass in a fight or anything else that you're not fully qualified for."

"Right." Chloe smiled. "Well, you get a highly fatal paper cut you know where to come."

Dean smiled and nodded. "Can something be highly fatal?" Dean asked her. "I mean when it's fatal that's pretty much all that matters isn't it?"

"Shut up." Chloe pulled the pillow from behind her head and smacked him with it.

"I mean when you're dead, you can't be slightly dead or really dead." Dean told her.

"Ok, I get it." Chloe glared at him.

"Come on, let's get inside." Dean offered.

"I wanna stay out here a bit longer." Chloe said.

"Sure." Dean moved to get off the car and Chloe reached out, grabbing his wrist. They both looked down at her hand.

"Could you sit here with me for a while?" Chloe turned to him. "I'm sorry it's just when you're around, the voices, the Angel's, they're quieter."

"Sure." Dean nodded and leaned back. "So that's the North Star right?"

"No, that is Sirius, the dog star." Chloe squinted. "That is the brightest star in the night sky."

"Oh." Dean said. "Not the North Star?"

"It's part of the constellation Canis Major." Chloe said. "He was a magical dog, a gift to Europa from Zeus. He was destined never to give up on a chase and he never did. Until he went after the Teumessian fox, who was destined to never be caught. The dog would never give up and the fox would never be caught so Zeus placed them in the stars as Canis Major and Minor so they could play out their never ending chase for eternity."

"That kind of sucks." Dean laughed.

"Yeah I know the feeling." Chloe turned to him and frowned. "For a while there I felt like I was the dog and you guys, you and Sam were the fox. That I was destined to chase you forever and you were destined not to be found."

"But you found us." Dean patted her hand.

"Yeah I did." She smiled.

"So which star is that?" Dean looked away and pointed up.

"That?" Chloe looked where he was pointing. "That is a satellite."

"Huh." Dean tried not to smile. "That would be why it's moving then?"

"That would be why." Chloe nodded.

* * *

Second Author's Note: The whole concept of Krypton as Planet Earth is not mine. I "borrowed" the idea from comic book writer genius Mark Miller in his series Superman: Red Son, which is one of the absolute best Superman stories out there as far as I'm concerned. It poses the question about what would have happened had Superman landed twelve hours earlier in Soviet Russia instead of America. If you haven't read it you definitely should. So I took his idea and just added the biblical utopia and Kryptonian as the language of the Angels.


	4. Orion

Bobby basically kicked them out the next day, telling them that they still had a job to do and they couldn't do it from his couch. Chloe got a crash course in hunting from Dean who was more than pleased that she knew her way around firearms and was even pretty efficient with a cross bow. Even so, he made sure to let her know that her job was to stay in the motel, she was not there to help them hunt and he wasn't going to put her in the middle of a fight she couldn't handle. Chloe made sure to let Dean know that she did whatever she wanted to do and it was going to be up to her to decide what she needed to do to protect him. If she thought she needed to go on a hunt, then she was going on a hunt and that was that.

The argument lasted for a week and a half and it wasn't until Chloe saved Sam's ass from a demon in Flagstaff did Dean grudgingly admit that she could come along if she wanted. Later Chloe had to admit to Sam that her heroic last minute save was actually a fluke. Sam just smiled at her and mentioned that if it weren't for flukes, he and Dean would have been dead years ago, clapping her on the back and welcoming her to the job.

The next morning Dean was cleaning his guns as Chloe showed Sam the inner workings of her computer. "How in the world did you get it to do that?" Sam asked astonished as Chloe pushed a few buttons.

"I like to think of myself as pretty technologically literate, I had an advanced supercomputer living in my head for six months but when Victor tried to explain how he did that, I think my head almost cracked open." Chloe laughed.

"And everything is in this code?" Sam wondered.

"Kryptonian. It's very useful as a secret code goes because it's a completely different language, there's no way to crack it unless you can read it. It took forever to write a translation program but it was worth it." Chloe shrugged. "I sort of write everything in it now, my own version of short hand. Drives Oliver crazy cause he can't read it."

Dean's phone rang and he answered it frowning before he hung up. "Come on." Dean started packing his guns up. "We've got a job."

"Where?" Sam frowned as Chloe put her computer away.

* * *

"So you're going to die?" Chloe looked at them skeptically. Apparently Bobby called with a lead on a seal, there was a town where people had stopped dying and they suspected a problem with Reapers. They'd called a friend of the guys, a witch named Pamela who was going to help them out by technically killing them.

"Technically." Sam winced.

"What's the big deal?" Dean smiled at her. "You do it all the time."

"You're a funny guy." Chloe glared at him then smacked him in the head.

Pamela laughed. "I like her." She sat down at the table. "You should keep her around."

"Can't get rid of her if I tried." Dean smiled. "She's my self appointed protector."

"Good for you." Pamela smiled at Chloe. "But you've got your work cut out for you."

"Don't I know it." Chloe turned to Dean. "How can I possibly be expected to protect your dumb ass when you are voluntarily dying?"

"I just like to make your job more challenging." Dean smiled at her and sat on the bed.

"You guys ready?" Pamela asked. Sam and Dean nodded and Pamela started weaving her spell. Chloe watched as Dean and Sam's bodies both fell back against the bed but there was still a Sam and Dean sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Holy crap do you see that?" Chloe got up and walked over. When Pamela turned to her and lifted the glasses Chloe blushed. "Sorry." She stuck a hand out and it went straight through Dean's chest.

"Hey!" Dean protested.

"That is so cool." Chloe smiled.

"You can see us?" Sam asked her.

"You're right there?" Chloe pointed out. "But you're sort of transparent."

"You can see ghosts?" Pamela asked her.

"I guess so." Chloe shrugged.

"Well that would have been something good to know before we turned into ghosts so that we could see ghosts." Dean told her.

"How was I supposed to know I could see ghosts?" Chloe argued. "I deal with meteor freaks, not supernatural freaks."

"Good point." Dean said. "We should get going."

Sam and Dean left and Chloe was alone with Pamela. They were silent for a few minutes until Chloe coughed. "Do you mind if I ask you, how that happened?" Chloe asked. "The eye thing?"

"Talk to your friend Castiel." Pamela said. Chloe seemed shocked for a second. "It wasn't on purpose. He warned me not to look for him, but the guys asked me to so." She shrugged. "Shit happens."

"Do you want…I mean if you could, would you want it fixed?"

"My eyes were melted from the inside out, I'm thirty two years old and I have to re-learn how to read. I had to have someone come in and rearrange my whole house so I wouldn't put on two different colored socks. What do you think?" Pamela sneered at her.

"Yeah ok, point taken." Chloe laughed. "I could fix that."

"The sock problem?" Pamela smiled. "I fixed that, I just buy white socks now, but thanks."

"No I meant your eyes." Chloe explained. "I can fix your eyes."

Pamela stared in Chloe's direction. "Are you messing with me?" She finally asked.

"No." Chloe shook her head. "I'm serious."

"Ok." Pamela said skeptically. "Why not, give it your best shot." She snorted. "Not sure what you can do against an Angel of the Lord."

"You'd be surprised." Chloe said under her breath as she took off Pamela's glasses. Pamela jerked backward and Chloe laid a reassuring hand on her arm. "It's ok."

"Sorry." Pamela sighed. Chloe laid her other hand over Pamela's eyes and took a deep breath. "What are you doing exactly?"

"I have no earthly idea." Chloe smiled. "I know if you had eyes you'd be glaring at me, but really I have no idea how it works, I've just recently learned to control it."

"That's truthful, but not reassuring." Pamela said. Chloe's hand started to glow, bathing Pamela in white light. "Wow, ok, your whole aura just exploded and the power is coming off you in waves."

"It tends to do that." Chloe chuckled, her voice strained.

"Ok, my face is getting kind of hot." Pamela said. Chloe couldn't answer, the pain exploding in her skull. "Chloe." Pamela asked slightly confused and scared. "Chloe, seriously you've got to answer me."

Pamela had been seeing darkness for the past six months so when the light enveloped her vision she freaked for a second, jumping out of her chair in shock. When the light receded she didn't go back to darkness, instead she could see the two beds with the two Winchesters on them. She could see the crappy motel curtains, the dirty motel carpet and the broken motel furniture, and nothing ever looked so beautiful. "Holy shit Chloe." Pamela laughed and walked to the mirror. "You did it." She opened her eyes wide and saw that she did in fact have eyes again. "You actually did it. Oh my God, my hair is hideous, no one thought to tell the blind girl her hair was out of control?" Pamela fixed her hair in the mirror and glanced over her shoulder and frowned. "Chloe?" Pamela turned around. "Chloe are you ok?"

"Fine, just give me a minute." Chloe rubbed her hands over her eyes.

"Chloe." Pamela sat down and grabbed her wrist, lowering Chloe's hands. She gasped and let go. "Oh God Chloe."

"Is my hair hideous?" Chloe joked.

"You don't have any eyes." Pamela whispered.

"But the hair's still good huh?" She laughed weakly.

"You knew this would happen?" Pamela asked her.

"Of course I did." Chloe smiled.

"And you just neglected to mention that part of the deal?" Pamela laughed.

"Would you have let me do it?" Chloe turned in her direction. "If I told you?"

"No." Pamela answered.

"There you go." Chloe said.

"No offense." Pamela said. "I really appreciate what you just did for me but do you mind if I put my glasses on you?"

"Go for it."

Pamela slipped the glasses on Chloe's face and she adjusted them. "So, I mean is Dean going to kill me?"

"For what?" Chloe asked her confused.

"For making you blind?" Pamela pointed out.

"Well, I'm not sure how it's any of his business but I plan to be fully optical by the time he wakes up and he'll never have to know." Chloe explained.

"What do you mean?" Pamela asked her.

"I'll heal. Eventually my eyes will grow back and I'll be fine." Chloe told her. "I'm just hoping it'll happen sooner rather than later because I've most recently learned the dark is a place to be afraid of."

"Dean is going to kill me." Pamela said under her breath.

Three hours later Chloe had made her way for the third time around the room with the help of Pamela's walking stick. "I think I'm getting the hang of it. I only ran into two things that time." She sat down in the chair. "Beer me."

Pamela laughed and slid her another beer. "You really aren't bothered by the sudden blindness are you?"

"Have you ever woken up in a morgue drawer with a toe tag?" Chloe asked her.

"God no." Pamela laughed.

"Well something like that makes everything else seem insignificant." Chloe shrugged. "So." Chloe sipped her beer. "Dean says you can see things."

"I can see everything now." Pamela sipped her beer.

"You know what I mean." Chloe said. "Can you see anything about me?" She picked at the label on her bottle.

"Give me your hands." Pamela said. Chloe reached out and Pamela grabbed her hands. "Now I get to show off my mojo."

"I'm waiting to be impressed." Chloe told her. Pamela closed her eyes and searched, her smile falling with every second. "Pamela, come on. I made the blind see today and you can't do a little fortune telling?"

"I'm sorry." Pamela whispered dropping Chloe's hands quickly.

"Don't be sorry, if you don't see anything, you don't see anything." Chloe said.

"No, I'm sorry because I did see something." Pamela said.

"Oh." Chloe finished off her beer. "Hit me."

"Chloe…" Pamela whispered.

"No I want to know." Chloe said. "Is there a bad dye job in my future?"

"Chloe." Pamela's voice was frantic now. "Chloe I need you to trust me." Pamela grabbed her by the arm as the windows shattered inward. When the glass settled Pamela dragged Chloe to the bathroom and shoved her in.

"What's going on?" Chloe panted, her fear more palpable since she couldn't see anything.

"Just stay here ok." Pamela closed the door and turned around to see the Demon standing behind her.

"Hi honey, I'm home." He smiled at her before grabbing her neck and shoving her against the wall.

Chloe stood with her back to the bathroom door, panting loudly as she heard crashes from the outer room. Pamela screamed and Chloe practically jumped out of her skin. "This is ridiculous." She reached out in front of her until her hands hit the shower curtain. She smiled and pulled.

Pamela stood up and wiped the blood off her lip. "That all you got?"

"Oh I'm just getting started." He smiled at her.

Pamela's eyes went wide and the demon turned around confused to see Chloe standing there holding the shower curtain rod in her hands like a baseball bat. Chloe swung the rod, smacking the demon in the head and sending him to the ground. "Please tell me I hit him and didn't just knock over a chair or something."

"Oh you hit me." He jumped up. "And now I'll return the favor." He slapped Chloe in the side of her head and sent her flying against the wall.

"No." Pamela rushed forward and gasped. She looked down to see a knife in her stomach. She pulled back and stumbled toward the bed. Leaning down she whispered something in Sam's ears and he sat up immediately. "Demon." Pamela panted and Sam jumped off the bed with his hand out. Pamela watched as Sam extracted the demon and sent it to hell. "Thanks for the assist." She grunted and Sam reached down to pick her up.

"You've been stabbed." Sam said. "And you have eyes."

"Wow you're really good at stating the obvious." Pamela laid against the headboard.

"How do you have eyes?" Sam asked then paused. "Chloe? Did she?"

"Yeah, I'm ok." Chloe called from the other side of the room pulling herself up.

"Chloe!" Sam ran over to her and helped her up. "You're blind." He gasped, Pamela's glasses had fallen to the ground.

"Your right, he's really good at that." Chloe limped to the bed with Sam supporting her. "So way to demon block me." Chloe reached out for Pamela's hands. "I totally had that dude." Pamela scoffed. "I hit him didn't I?"

"You got lucky." Pamela smiled. "Two feet to the left and you would have smashed Sam in the balls."

Sam winced and Chloe laughed. "At least I didn't get myself stabbed."

"Funny." Pamela grunted. "I need to wake up Dean." She stood up and walked to the other bed, whispering the words that brought him back to his body and collapsed as the blood started to pour out of her stomach.

"Shit." Dean jumped off the bed so Pamela could lay down.

"This is what I get for helping the Winchester's." She laughed humorlessly. "I finally get my site back only to spend my last hours on earth looking at this ugly ass motel room."

Dean looked at her closer. "You have eyes."

"God, I also have a gaping stab wound but you lose your eyes once and that's all anyone ever see's." Pamela coughed.

"If you have eyes, that means…" Dean looked up and saw Chloe smiling at him, gaping holes were her beautiful green eyes had been before. "I leave you alone for a few hours and you go and lose your eyes." Dean joked with her.

"I'm unpredictable like that." Chloe shrugged realizing that not having eyes didn't mean you couldn't cry and that was a very weird sensation. She stood up and walked over to Pamela grabbing her hand.

"You can't fix this can you?" Pamela asked her.

"No." Chloe shook her head. "Not while I'm still…" She trailed off and Pamela knew, not while she was still healing the eyes. "What did you see?"

"Chloe." Pamela shook her head.

"What did you see?" Chloe asked her more insistently.

"Death." Pamela whispered. "I saw Death."

Chloe dropped Pamela's hand and stood up, backing away and bumping into furniture left and right. Dean got up and helped her stand steady. Sam moved closer to Pamela who whispered something in his ear before finally dying.

* * *

Dean brought Chloe to her room and told her to sit tight as they dealt with Pamela's body. He said he'd be back in an hour and not to move and she didn't really have much choice. "Chloe?" A woman's voice called out to her. "Chloe Sullivan?"

"Who's there?" Chloe spun around the room.

"Tessa." The woman walked out of the shadows.

"You're the Reaper?" Chloe asked.

"I am." Tessa smiled. "And you're Chloe Sullivan."

"I am." Chloe seemed surprised. "What are you doing here, I thought you'd have been gone by now."

"When I found out you were here, I just had to meet you. The girl who never dies, well not for real anyway." Tessa sat down.

"With a job like yours I must really annoy you." Chloe felt around then sat down next to her.

"Immensely." Tessa nodded. "Not dead, not really alive, your entire existence is unnerving."

"Wait, not really alive?" Chloe turned to her confused.

"How exactly did you think you could see me?" Tessa pointed out to her. "Well you can't see me but you can hear me. You could see Sam and Dean. You can probably see all ghosts. You straddle that fine line between life and death at every moment of every day. That first time you died and came back, you were different."

"Well." Chloe took a deep breath. "That's creepy and upsetting."

"Don't worry." Tessa smiled at her. "One day, relatively soon, you'll have your final death, and I'll be there."

"Soon?" Chloe swallowed. "How soon?"

"Oh sweetie." Tessa put a hand on her cheek. "You had to know getting into this that Dean would be the death of you."

Chloe turned away from her. "It couldn't last forever huh?" Chloe asked. "I mean cheating death so many times has got to catch up with you at some point. At least I'll go out for a good cause huh?"

Tessa sighed. "Look, you seem like a nice girl. You didn't ask for this, for any of this so I'm going to give you a heads up. This holy quest you think you're on. God's not the one pulling your strings."

"What do you mean?" Chloe stood up.

"I mean God didn't choose you for this, someone else did." Tessa bit her lip. "By nature reapers are neutral, we don't choose sides, there is no good or evil for us, only death. That being said, watch your back because the Geppetto to your Pinocchio, has her own agenda."

"Who are you talking about?" Chloe asked. "I don't understand."

"Ask Dean who Anna is." Tessa said before disappearing.

"I don't…" Chloe called out. "Hello?" She reached out but Tessa wasn't there anymore.

"You talking to someone?" Dean asked from behind her and she spun around to quickly, tangling herself in her own feet. He jumped forward and caught her before she fell.

"No, I'm just, talking to myself." She smiled sheepishly.

"Right, let's get you cleaned up." Dean led her to the bathroom area. He looked around confused as to where she could stand so he could clean up the cuts she got when the window shattered. "Hold on." Dean grabbed her hips and lifted her to the counter top. She held onto his arm as he turned the water on, wetting a towel and cleaning her cuts.

"You're mad at me." Chloe broke the silence.

"No." Dean softened. "I'm not mad, why do you think I'd be mad at you?"

"If I hadn't healed her eyes, I would have been able to do more when the demon showed up." She said.

"Hey, you can't think like that." Dean said. "The fact that you would even do that for someone else. Healing her knowing that it would leave you blind for an undetermined amount of time, not a lot of people would do that."

"Yeah but if I hadn't healed her eyes I could have healed her and she would still be alive." Chloe felt tears well up again.

"Stop it." Dean said. "You can't think like that, it'll eat you up inside."

"This is a little weird but can I just…" Chloe reached her hand out until she hit Dean. Her fingers slid up his chest to his neck and then his face. Dean closed his eyes as she explored with her fingers and somehow that act made him feel more vulnerable than he'd ever felt before. She dropped her arm and chuckled. "I just wanted to see how you..felt."

"How do I feel?" Dean smirked.

"Handsome." Chloe said surprised.

"I'll take that as a complement." Dean smiled and blushed.

"Who is Anna?" Chloe blurted out.

"Anna?" Dean asked her confused.

"I keep hearing about Anna." Chloe tapped her head. "And before you asked Castiel if I was like Anna."

"Anna was a Fallen Angel." Dean answered her slowly, as if trying to reveal how much to tell her. "But not in a bad, 'join the forces of Lucifer' fallen way just that she wanted free will, she wanted to feel something. So she voluntarily ripped out her grace, fell to earth, and was born to human parents. When I was brought back, she started to hear the Angel's like you did, only she was vocal about it and got stuck in an institute, there was a story in the paper, she drew a lot of attention to herself and the demons were after her because if they could get their hands on a human who could hear Angels it would be very worth it to them." Dean sighed.

"Are they…are they going to come after me?" Chloe asked suddenly scared.

"No one knows about you." Dean assured her. "And if they find out, we've got you covered."

"Ok." Chloe smiled. "Thanks."

"It's our job." Dean smiled.

"So what happened to her?" Chloe asked. "Anna. I don't see her around reaping the benefits of a Winchester bodyguard."

"She thought the only way to ensure her safety and our safety was by finding her Grace and taking it back. She got her Angel powers back and we haven't seen her since." Dean frowned.

"New rule." Chloe changed direction mid string. "You and I are now attached at the hip."

"Is there going to be surgery involved in this?" Dean smiled but Chloe was serious. "There isn't going to be surgery is there because going to the bathroom could be awkward but showers would be new and interesting."

"I'm here to protect you." She frowned. "Somehow on my watch you've technically died once and almost died twice. You're not Buffy so where you go I go." Chloe said. "What you do I do."

"So then you don't need your own room anymore." Dean joked. "Do you want the left side of the bed or the right side."

"Left." Chloe told him as if that were the obvious answer.

"Fine." Dean pressed her. "You should know I sleep shirtless."

"You should know that I sleep in the nude." Chloe replied. Dean stared at her in with a mixture of fear and excitement until she busted out laughing. Dean knew there was more to what was bothering her but he also knew a brush off when he heard one so he didn't push it.

"Done." Dean grabbed her hips and let her down. "They're all really shallow so we don't need stitches, we won't even have to bandage them."

"Thanks." Chloe coughed, keenly aware of his hands still on her hips.

"You should probably get some sleep." Dean told her.

"Can you grab something to wear out of my bag for me? I'd do it myself but…" Chloe asked sheepishly.

"Oh right." Dean dropped his hands and dug in her bag. He handed her some shorts and a t-shirt. As Chloe changed, Dean looked around for other things Chloe wouldn't be able to do with no eyes. He pulled the covers back on the bed and set up a glass of water on the nightstand. When she was changed he led her to the bed and sat her down.

"I've already berated myself for how utterly girly this is going to sound but do you think you can stay? Just until I fall asleep?" She bit her lip. "Since I can't see if anyone is in the room, it's better to know that there is someone here."

"Sure." Dean smiled and sat in the bedside chair.

Chloe laid down and got comfortable and after a few minutes she smiled sheepishly. "Ok, I did not factor in how uncomfortable it would be to have someone just sitting there."

"Ok." Dean laughed. "We'll talk."

"About what?" Chloe let out a puff of air.

"If I were a constellation which one would I be?" Dean asked her suddenly. "I've been thinking about this for a while. I think it's Hercules. That's a constellation right?"

"Yeah it's a constellation." Chloe smiled. "But it's not you."

"Come on, he was a hero right? Killing things and saving people." Dean asked.

"Yeah but Hercules was a hero because he was Zeus' son and that's just what half bloods did. They went on quests and killed monsters because they were supposed to." Chloe said. "That's not you."

"Isn't it?" Dean frowned.

"No, you're more like Orion." Chloe said.

"What's his story?" Dean leaned back.

"He was the son of Poseidon and Euryale. He is said to be the most handsome of the earth born."

"That's the second time tonight you've called me handsome." Dean pointed out to her.

"Un-swell your head." Chloe said. "By the way, if I still had eyes, I would roll them."

"Fine, continue with your story." Dean told her.

"Orion was blinded on the island of Chios because of a woman, was lead into the Sun where he was healed. He was one of the world's greatest hunters, hunting with Artemis herself. In one hunt he threatened to kill every beast on Earth."

"That does sound like me." Dean smiled.

"To humble him, Gaia, Mother Earth sent a giant scorpion to kill him. It did and Artemis requested that he be put into the heavens to honor his memory."

"Wow." Dean said. "Didn't see that ending coming." He coughed. "So is that my fate? Death by giant scorpion?"

"Actually I believe the moral of the story is more death by cockiness." Chloe pointed out. "But the story isn't over yet. In the Odyssey, Odysseus sees Orion when he's in the underworld, he's still hunting, still a great slayer of beasts, even though he was dead and in Tartarus, he was still doing his job."

"So that's how you see me?" Dean asked her quietly. "Still fighting? Even after death."

"That's how you are." Chloe told him yawning.

He stared at her in astonishment and was about to ask her another question when he realized she'd fallen asleep. He watched her sleep for a few more minutes and then got up to go back to his room. He turned around, surprised to see Castiel behind him. "We need to talk." The two of them said at the same time. Dean frowned and then shook his head motioning Castiel outside.

"I need Chloe." Castiel said.

"No." Dean shook his head. "I just got her to sleep."

"Wake her up." Castiel told him as if that solved everything.

"No." Dean glared at him. "I want to know what the hell you guys think you're doing here."

"What do you mean?" Castiel frowned at him.

"I mean Chloe." Dean said. "I mean pulling her into this whole ridiculous mess. Sam and I, we're to suppose to do this, it's our job. She didn't sign up for this. She has nothing to do with this and it's not fair to drag her into it."

"But she's in it already." Castiel pointed out.

"Get her out of it." Dean said. "Whatever it is they think she has to do, get someone else to do it."

"There is no one else." Castiel shook his head.

"This is bullshit." Dean glared at him. "You're going to get her killed. Don't you realize that the minute someone realizes she's privy to your private Angel conversations that she's going to be the hottest commodity? I'm not talking about just the demons either. If I recall you and Uriel were all too ready to murder the last human that could hear you."

"That won't happen." Castiel's voice turned colder. "I would never let that happen. No one knows about her and no one's going to know about her if I have anything to do about it."

"You can't control everything." Dean said.

"You think I like this anymore than you do?" Castiel said. "She saved me and I'll do everything in my power to make sure that she's ok. But there's nothing that I can do about it Dean, she's been chosen, she has a job to do and I can't change that." He stepped back. "In the mean time I need her help."

"No." Dean shook his head.

"I can speak for myself." Chloe said from the doorway. They both turned to her startled. "I'm blind Dean, not deaf." She smiled walking slowly closer to them, her hands out in front of her. Dean ran to grab her and support her.

"What happened?" Castiel asked confused.

"She healed Pamela." Dean said.

"It'll heal we just have to be patient." Chloe assured Castiel.

"I don't have time for that." Castiel laid a finger on her forehead and Chloe blinked rapidly as her sight was restored instantaneously.

"Wow, that's handy." Chloe smiled. "So, what did you need?" She smiled at Castiel.

"Chloe you don't have to do this, you don't have to help him." Dean offered.

"Of course I'm going to help him." Chloe looked at Dean confused. "What do you need?"

"I need you to come with me." Castiel held out his hand.

"Sure just let me put some pants and shoes on." Chloe offered.

"No time." Castiel shook his head.

"Cas." Dean said with a warning.

"I'll be back." Chloe grabbed Castiel's hand and they were gone.

"Son of a bitch." Dean growled. He didn't like this, he really didn't like this. He'd agreed to let Chloe come along with them for many reasons, more than just what he told Sam. He had to admit that he was curious about what exactly she could save him from. It was sort of handy that she could hear the Angels if he was being honest. Most of all though, the first time he saw her she was dead and a week later she was alive, that was just amazing to him.

What he didn't like was how attached he seemed to have become to her in the past month. He had come to rely on their nightly star gazing conversations to get him to sleep. Every night they would spend a few hours outside on the hood of a car of Chloe's choosing. They would alternate between telling each other stories about past adventures and Chloe educating Dean on the constellations. She'd told him about all the Meteor Infected she'd come against and he told her about all the monsters he'd killed.

He always seemed to feel anxious until he saw her in the morning. She'd storm into his room, announce her boredom, and insisting that he or Sam entertain her. Pure fear had gripped his chest when he realized that if anyone found out about Chloe she could be on the demon's most wanted list. As sure as he was earlier when Dean said they would protect her, there was nothing they could do if an army of demons came after her much less and army of Angels. Chloe Sullivan had managed to worm her way into his life and Dean really didn't like it.

He sat annoyed and stared at the middle of the room at the spot that Castiel and Chloe had been standing a minute before, knowing he wasn't going to bed until she was back.

* * *

"Where are we?" Chloe asked through the jarring cacophony of car alarms. One minute they were in a hotel room and the next they were in a street somewhere in the rain.

"I'm not sure." Castiel walked forward through the parking lot and Chloe followed hot on his heels. He held up a hand and the alarms stopped instantly. He wove through more cars and then stopped, Chloe walked up beside him.

"Oh." She put a hand to her mouth, staring at the woman on the wet concrete. She knelt down and felt for a pulse. "She's dead." Chloe frowned up at him.

"Can you help her?" Castiel asked. "Like you helped me?"

"Is she like you?" Chloe asked him and Castiel nodded. "I can try." Chloe took a deep breath, hesitated a second, remembering the pain of healing Castiel and then laid her hands on the wound on the woman's neck. She sat there for a good ten minutes and then opened one eye. "Nothing's happening is it?"

"No." Castiel sighed. "I was afraid this might happen." He held out a hand to Chloe and pulled her to her feet. "She's been dead too long."

"I'm sorry, was she a friend of yours?" Chloe asked.

"She was a part of my Garrison." Castiel explained. "She's the third death this week. I have to go speak to Uriel."

"Ok, well I guess…" Castiel reached out and tapped Chloe's forehead and suddenly she was back at the motel. "I'll see you later." Chloe said to no one.

Dean jumped up. "You're ok?"

"I'm fine." Chloe smiled at him and then ran a hand through her rain soaked hair. "A little wet but otherwise good." Dean seemed to relax. "You were worried." She smiled at him.

"What?" Dean scoffed. "Of course I wasn't." He looked up at her. "Worried?" Chloe put her hands on her hips. "I mean you're here to protect me, not run Castiel's errands."

"Oh so then you were jealous?" Chloe offered.

"No." Dean laughed. "I was not jealous. Please."

"Ok." Chloe smiled. "I'm going to change into some dry clothes. Get some sleep."

"Well then." Dean said.

"See you in the morning." Chloe told him. "I'll bring the coffee and you'd better have another job lined up because I really don't want to spend another day sitting around this place while you try desperately to get your act together."

"Night Chloe." Dean opened the door and walked out.


	5. Lyra

When Chloe walked into the room the next morning with three cups of coffee Sam was pacing on the phone with someone and Dean looked pissed. "What's going on?" Chloe handed Dean his coffee and he grunted.

"Ruby." Dean growled.

That one word said so much. Chloe knew Ruby was a demon, Chloe knew that Dean hated her and Sam, well Sam and Ruby were a touchy subject. Chloe was willing to bet more than her life on the fact that she knew more about Ruby than Dean did but she kept her mouth shut, not her battle. Sam hung up and took his coffee from Chloe with a smile. "So we're going to Cheyenne." Sam walked over to the bed and started packing his bag.

"What's in Cheyenne?" Dean asked.

"Ruby tracked down some leads." Sam said. "But the trails getting colder by the minute so pack it up."

"I'm ready." Chloe set her coffee down. "I'll go check us out."

They were out of the motel within five minutes and on the road in six. It was slightly tense in the backseat and Chloe figured that had to do with Dean's feelings toward Ruby. Instead of butting in where she didn't belong she took out her computer, plugged in her headphones and did some JLA work. Before she knew it they were at a motel, Dean was passing her a key card and Sam was stretching his legs.

Chloe was settling herself in her room when something just felt wrong. She dropped her bag on the ground and ran around the corner to see Sam standing in the middle of his room staring at nothing with a very angry look on his face. "Where the hell is Dean?" Chloe asked him.

"Gone." Sam grabbed his phone and dialed a number. "I'm here. Roadside Motel." He hung up and sat on the bed.

"What do you mean gone?" Chloe snapped. "Where the hell's he gone?"

"Castiel and Uriel showed up and took him away." Sam said. "Someone's been killing Angels, seven so far and they don't know what's going on."

"What does Dean have to do with that?" Chloe asked confused.

"They've got Alistair. They want Dean to get the information out of him, torture it out of him." Sam scoffed.

"Over my dead…" Chloe glared. "They want Dean to go in there and torture the very demon that used to torture him? For thirty years in hell?"

Sam looked at her a little shocked. "How do you know about that?"

"I told you, I know everything about you guys, more than you probably know about yourselves." Chloe sighed. "Which is not as great as it sounds. They can't do this, they can't make Dean do this."

"What are you going to do about it?" Sam asked. "I don't even know where they are."

"I'll find them and I'll stop them." Chloe stormed out of the room.

Chloe walked over to Dean's car pulling the keys she'd swiped from the table in the motel out of her pocket, thanking Bart for those pick pocket lessons. She unlocked the car, slid in the driver's seat and drove off. Sam and Dean didn't know but if Castiel was on earth Chloe knew where he was, ever since she'd healed him, Chloe just knew where he was at all times. She sped down the street going over all the things she was going to do to the Angel when she saw him.

When she got to the warehouse she slid to a stop outside, wincing and just imagining the look on Dean's face if he'd seen the way she handled the car and stormed in the building. All three men turned astonished in her direction. "Chloe?" Dean asked confused.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Chloe screamed.

"Now is not the time." Castiel glared at her. "We'll talk about this later."

"We'll talk about this now." Chloe said. "No way in hell is Dean going in that room and you should know better."

"You saw her." Castiel pointed out. "The other night you saw what they're doing. They're killing Angels, we need to know who."

"You can find out another way." Chloe stepped between Castiel and Dean.

"There is no other way." Castiel shook his head. "Our numbers used to be so large you couldn't count them but now our army is dwindling at the time we need it most and if this can stop that, we have to try."

"Chloe, its fine." Dean laid a hand on her arm. "I can do this." Chloe turned around to face him. "I need to do this."

Chloe stared at him for a second before nodding and then turned to glare at Castiel as Dean walked into the room. Uriel spared barely a glance at Chloe and then turned to Castiel. They had a completely silent conversation before Uriel disappeared. "What are you doing here?" Castiel turns on Chloe immediately. "You can't be here. People can't know about you."

"What am I doing here? What are you doing? Torture, you guys torture now?" She asked. "Wait no you get humans to do your dirty work for you. Do you know what this is going to do to him?"

"It's necessary." Castiel said. Chloe walked over to the door and sat down, listening as Alistair screamed in pain and closed her eyes. "You should go. You shouldn't be here for this."

"Dean shouldn't be here for this. It's my job to protect Dean." She said refusing to look at the Angel. "If I can't do that by stopping this, I'm sure as hell going to be here for him the minute it's over." She turned around, her gaze steely. "I'm not going anywhere."

Chloe wanted a lot of things, she wanted to tear apart the room, scream in frustration, weep with sorrow, but most of all she wanted to get rid of that burger Dean had got her at the diner in Arizona. She wasn't going to give Castiel the satisfaction, the knowledge that she couldn't handle it. So she listened as Alistair tortured Dean even while Dean tortured him. She listened as the demon slowly chipped away at Dean not with weapons but with words and she waited for it to happen.

She held her breath as Alistair told Dean the truth, the truth that Castiel had been keeping from him since this whole thing started. The truth that made Chloe cry for days when she heard it. She held her breath as Alistair explained that it was Dean himself that started this whole thing, that it was Dean himself that opened that very first seal the minute he got off the rack and started torturing his first soul. A tear ran down her face as she resumed her breathing, a tear that she knew Dean wouldn't, couldn't shed just then so she shed it for him. "I hate you for this." Chloe whispered but Castiel heard her and looked away in shame. The weight of Chloe's words much heavier on him than he imagine words could ever be, making him want to burst in the room and tear Dean away, if only so Chloe wouldn't hate him.

Expecting to hear Alistair screaming in pain again they were both surprised when they heard a crash instead. Castiel ran in the room, Chloe hot on his heels and they found Alistair off the rack and Dean up against the wall, slowly losing consciousness. "Dean." Chloe's whole world sopped. Space and time ceased to exist and Chloe's breath stuck in her throat until she saw the shaky rise and fall of Dean's chest. She breathed out and moved over to him.

Castiel distracted Alistair as Chloe bent down to make sure Dean was alright. She winced with every blow that Castiel received and thought for one horrible minute that he deserved it. When she was sure Dean was alive but just unconscious she turned her attention to Castiel, who Alistair had by the throat. Then suddenly, she heard familiar words, Kryptonian words. Her brow furrowed, she translated as fast a she could and realized that it basically amounted to 'return to sender'. Alistair was sending Castiel back and even after everything he'd done today, all the things Chloe hated him for, she couldn't let that happen.

"No." She jumped to her feet and ran for the demon, not sure what she was doing, not sure if there was anything she could do when he turned to her and with the flick of his wrist pinned her against the wall.

"I don't know what you are, but I will say I'm intrigued." He smiled. "Just let me deal with this pesky problem and you and I can have some fun ok?"

Chloe fell to the ground and suddenly Alistair was the one pinned against the wall. Sam was here and he was pissed. She crawled over to Castiel to check on him as Sam just twisted his wrist and Alistair was gone.

* * *

It took twenty excruciating minutes to get Dean to the hospital. Chloe holding him, his head in her lap in the back seat of Dean's car as Sam drove hell bent for anywhere but there. "You'll be fine." Chloe whispered as she stroked his hair.

"Can you heal him?" Sam asked, looking at her through the rear view mirror. "Can you fix him? I don't want you to…if it's going to hurt you."

"No." Chloe shook her head. "I don't care about that. You know I don't care about that." Chloe brushed him off. "It's just, I can't." She looked down at her hands, the hands that were failing her at the moment, the hands that were covered in Dean's blood.

"What you do you mean?" Sam frowned.

"Sometimes, when there's a lot of adrenaline, when I'm really emotional, it doesn't work." Chloe said. "I've been trying and trying and I can't make it work." She started to cry.

"Chloe, its fine." Sam freaked out by her sudden burst of emotion. "Don't worry about it."

"I have to worry about it." Chloe said. "Because this is what I do." She put a hand to Dean's chest, just to assure herself that he was still breathing. "I heal people Sam. It's like my job here. You and Dean fight the bad things and I heal. But I'm not healing." She continued to sob. "I'm here to help Dean and I can't even do that."

"The hospital is ten miles away." Sam said. "Hold on for ten miles ok."

"Ok." Chloe nodded. "He can hold on." She brushed the hair out of his face. "He's a fighter." She said. "He's a fighter."

"He is." Sam stepped on the gas pedal.

Chloe watched as Dean's eyes fluttered and she counted the second in between his breaths. She wasn't sure why but she thought it might be important and mainly it was to keep Chloe calm. She couldn't do this, she couldn't sit here and watch him die. She listened to Castiel talk about him for months, listened to them talk about the brave hunter, the warrior, their savoir. She built up this idea in her head of some plastic hero wearing underwear on the outside of his tights, a square jaw, and a cheery disposition. Five seconds after meeting him, all that was thrown out of the window. After two weeks she thought he was the most annoying, disagreeable man she'd ever met. He was arrogant and cocky and so completely full of himself, on the outside.

On the inside he was different. He was broken but he was still kind. He was the guy who sat on the hood of a car and talked about nothing with her for three hours because she didn't want to fall asleep. He was the guy who worried more about how he was going to protect her, keep her safe, than how she was going to protect him.

He was the guy who Chloe talked to, told her fears and worries to masked in Greek myths and though she thought she was being sneaky, being subtle, he knew. He knew that when she was telling him about Cassandra, a woman who was fated to see the future but that no one would ever believe her. That she was talking about herself, her experience with the voices. He knew that when she told him the story of Icarus she was talking about her powers. Icarus giddy with the sensation of his wings made of wax, didn't listen to the warnings of this father and flew too close to the sun. The wings melted and he fell into the sea. Dean knew that Chloe was really worried about flying to close to the edge of life and death when using her own powers.

He never came out and said it but he knew. Chloe could tell by the way he tried to make her feel better, tried to tell her that Greeks were idiots and that Chloe would know better than to fly too close to the sun while wearing wings made of wax. He was that guy. Somewhere along the way, between getting rid of ghosts, fighting demons, and learning the constellations, he had become _the_ guy. So she couldn't do it. She couldn't watch him die.

Sam pulled into the ambulance bay. The car was barely in park when he was at Chloe's door, taking Dean away from her and screaming for a doctor. Chloe tried to follow but she couldn't because she wasn't family. "I'll go." Sam assured her. "I'll make sure he's ok. I'll come get you as soon as I know anything."

Chloe nodded and stopped right outside the door as they wheeled him into surgery and leaned against the wall. "Why didn't the trap hold?" Chloe looked up into Castiel's guilt stricken face.

"I don't know what happened with the trap. It never should have broken." Castiel was in front of her now and he could see the pain in her eyes, see the worry that was caused by him and he didn't like it.

"It shouldn't have broken." Chloe laughed. "Dean shouldn't have even been in there." She screamed at him. "You put him through hell, again, for what? The demons weren't even behind this."

"Maybe Alistair was lying." Castiel said.

"No." Chloe shook her head. "No, he was telling the truth and you know it."

"Chloe, listen to me." Castiel had to explain it to her. He had to make her see because at the moment she was mad at him and for some reason he couldn't stand that.

"No. I'm tired of listening to you." Chloe told him. "I'm tired of following your lead, of blindly going along with your schemes. Dean's lying in a hospital bed, we don't know if he's going to make it and I can't heal him. This power, this great power that I bestowed with, the power that saved you, is useless." She choked on a sob and tried to push the tears away.

"Dean will be fine." Castiel tried to assure her.

"Of course he won't be fine." Chloe snorted. "After what he learned, how can anyone be fine." Castiel opened his mouth but Chloe had walked away.

* * *

Chloe strolled around the hospital grounds until she found a small alley that was out of the way enough. She pulled the knife that Dean had insisted she carry on her at all times and sliced clean down her forearm. She was tired of being in the dark, tired of basically running as fast as she could and still finding herself five steps behind. As the blood dripped to the ground she smeared her fingertips in it and knelt down.

Lightning flashed in the alley and Anna blinked spinning rapidly, her senses all on high alert. She was at a hospital, but she hadn't come here, someone brought her here, someone summoned her here. Her mind went through the list of who would have had the knowledge and the power to do that and the results weren't good. "Anna?" Chloe asked from her position on the ground, her fingers hovering over the hastily drawn spell as she cradled her newly sliced open forearm.

Anna spun around and looked down at her astonished. "You?" Anna asked moving forward slowly.

"Me." Chloe nodded standing up straight.

"How did you know how to call me here?" Anna asked walking around Chloe in a circle. "I didn't tell you how to do that."

"I'm a fast learner." Chloe smiled. "It wasn't too hard to figure out. Castiel said that Kryptonian was the language of the Angels. After that it wasn't hard to figure out what symbols to use. I've learned from Pamela that blood is always stronger when weaving a spell. The rest I pulled from my mind, from the knowledge that you put in there." Anna looked a bit shocked. "Didn't know I could access that stuff did you? That stuff you stuck in there when you gave me the voices." Anna was still staring at her confused. Chloe's voice was calm and even but it wasn't going to stay that way for long. "When a supercomputer uses your brain like silly putty, you learn a few tricks."

"What do you want?" Anna looked around the area slightly scared that someone, or something, would jump out at her.

"Many things." Chloe said. "But first and foremost to know why you did it?" Chloe finally asked.

"Dean needs someone who can hear the Angel's private conversations. I can't do it anymore, not since I got my Grace back." Anna said.

"Why?" Chloe asked her.

"Because there are things that the Angels aren't telling Dean. Things that he needs to know." Anna said.

"Why me?" Chloe whispered.

"There are few people who can understand out true language, hear our true voices." Anna said. "Thanks to your one of a kind brain chemistry, courtesy of the thing you call Brainiac, you happen to be one of those people. If you add in your knowledge of our language, your own unique history, what you grew up around, the things that you've seen, the things you've survived. You were in my top five." Anna leaned against the wall. "Then I found out about your special ability." She smiled thoughtfully.

"The healing?" Chloe asked her. "You brought me here to heal Castiel?"

"No." Anna shook her head. "I didn't even know about that until after the fact, but the results were better than I could have imagined. Do you know how impossible what you did was?"

Chloe just shook her head. "So then I'm here to heal Dean?"

"In a way." Anna said. "All will be clear to you soon."

"Why do you guys have to be so cryptic?" Chloe glared at her then dropped it. "Alistair said that the demons aren't killing the Angels. Sam believes him. Do you?"

"Who else could it be?" Anna asked. "Who else could have the power?"

"Angel's." Chloe pointed out. "Fallen Angels." At Anna's confused look Chloe elaborated. "I've been thinking about this for a while. If an Angel had turned, is there any real way to know for sure?"

"No." Anna shook her head.

"Because that's what happened to Castiel, members of his Garrison, a lot of them, tried to kill him because he couldn't be turned."

"So you're thinking that maybe that's what's happening here?" Anna caught on. "That these are recruitments gone sour?"

"Could be." Chloe nodded.

"They'd need a leader though." Anna shook her head. "Angels are followers, they take orders, they don't just decide to do something like that."

"Uriel." Chloe said suddenly. "You have to go." She bent down and started drawing symbols on the ground. "Castiel's in trouble."

"What do you mean?" Anna knelt down next to her. "Go where?"

"It had to be Uriel. He was the only other one that knew about Alistair. He's the only other one who had access to the room, who could have sabotaged the trap." Chloe explained. "If Castile figures it out, and he will, Uriel will kill him." Chloe put the finishing touches on the spell and in a lightning flash Anna was gone.

Chloe stood in the alleyway trying to calm herself down when Sam walked out. "Hey."

"Hey, any news on Dean?" She asked him.

"He's going to be fine, he's stable for now." Sam assured her. "I'm a little worried about you though."

"What?" Chloe looked confused until Sam nodded down at the gash in her arm. "It's fine."

"It doesn't seem fine." Sam said. "You don't seem fine."

"Sam." Chloe said. "You don't know me very well, we just met a few weeks ago, and granted, all I knew about you before I heard from the Angels."

"But." Sam offered.

"The thing you did back there." Chloe offered. "Killing Alistair. It isn't right Sam."

"That is none of your business." Sam's smile faltered.

"I know about the things that you won't tell Dean. I know about the blood, I know about Ruby." Chloe said. "I know that from day one, other than Dean, you were the second most talked about topic with the Angels. You and your unnatural power."

"I do what I have to do to keep me and Dean and now you safe." Sam said defensively.

"I'm not you're responsibility so don't worry about that." Chloe held up her hand. "Look if anyone here understands an unnatural power, it's me. I'm just telling you what I've heard. Like I said, I've only known you guys for a few weeks but I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Nothing's going to happen to me." Sam smiled at her.

"It will." Chloe argued. "You're useful to them now. With everything that's going on, they have a very "ends justify the means" attitude and as long as you're helpful to their cause, they're going to look the other way. But when this is all over, they plan to take care of their Sam Winchester problem."

Sam stared at her for a second. "When all this is over." Sam told her. "There won't be a reason for me to use my unnatural power anymore."

"I hope you're right." Chloe said reaching up quickly and kissing him on the cheek. "I've sort of grown fond of you Winchesters you know."

"The feelings mutual." Sam smiled at her before walking to the door.

"Sam." Chloe called out and he turned around. "I may have been sent here to save Dean, but I can do two things at once and I'm gonna keep on trying to save you too."

"Good." Sam frowned at her then disappeared into the hospital.

She took a deep breath and followed Sam inside.

* * *

Castiel inspected the devil's trap, staring at the leaky faucet. "You called? What do you say Castiel will you join me? Will you fight with me?" Uriel walked into the room.

"Strange how a leaky pipe can undo the works of Angel's when we ourselves are supposed to be the agents of fate." Castiel looked over at Uriel.

"Alistair was much more powerful then we could imagine." Uriel said.

"No. No demon could overpower that trap. I made it myself." Castiel looked over at Uriel. "We've been friends for a long time, fought by each other's sides, served together away from home for what seems like forever. We're bothers Uriel, pay me that respect, tell me the truth."

"The truth is the only thing that can kill an angel." Uriel dropped a knife, the same knife that Muriel had that day she attacked Castiel, into his hand. "Is another Angel."

"You." Castiel said with disgust in his voice.

"I'm afraid so." Uriel smiled.

"You broke the devils trap, set Alistair on Dean." Castiel shook his head.

"Alistair should never have been taken alive. Really inconvenient Cas. Yes I did turn the screw a little. Alistair should have killed dean and escaped and you should have gone on happily scape-goating the demons." Uriel sighed.

"For the murders of our kin?" Castiel asked him.

"Not murders. Castiel. No, my work is conversion. How long have we waited here, how long have we played this game by rules that make no sense?" Uriel snapped.

"It is our father's world Uriel." Castiel turned away from him.

"Our father? He stopped being that if he ever was the moment he created them, humanity, his favorite. His whining puking larva." He practically spit when he said it.

"Are you trying to convert me?" Castiel said the though amusing him.

"I wanted you to join me, I still do. With you we can be powerful enough to raise our brother." Uriel seemed excited by this.

"Lucifer." Castiel shuddered when he said the name.

"You do remember him. How strong he was. How beautiful. And he didn't bow to humanity, he was punished for defending us. Now if you want to believe in something believe in him." Uriel paced.

"Lucifer is not God." Castiel growled.

"God isn't God anymore. He doesn't care what we do. I am proof of that." Uriel laughed.

"But this…what were you going to do Uriel, kill the whole garrison?" Castiel shook his head.

"I only killed the ones who said no. Other's have joined me Cas. Now please brother don't fight me, help me, help me spread the word. Help me bring on the apocalypse. All you have to do is be unafraid." Uriel said.

Castiel thought about it. He thought about Chloe, about how she showed up out of nowhere and saved him, brought him back from the brink of death, even at the expense of her own life, and she did it all with a smile on her face. Lucifer wasn't responsible for that. God was responsible for that, had to be responsible for that. "For the first time in a long time, I am."

Castiel punched Uriel and he went flying through the back wall. They were pretty evenly matched at first and with the image of Chloe's smiling face in his mind it was almost like Castiel couldn't feel the pain. "You've tried this before." Castiel taunted him. "You've tried to kill me."

"That was not sanctioned by me." Uriel said it almost as an apology. "They took it upon themselves to go after you. It was foolish and ill advised." He picked up Castiel and tossed him through a pillar. "But you got away." Uriel smiled. "You against ten of them. Do you see how strong you are?"

"But I didn't get away." Castiel spit blood out of his mouth. "They stabbed me, they killed me." That made Uriel falter a bit.

Uriel stopped. "You aren't dead."

"Because God sent me an Angel." Castiel smiled. "An Angel of my very own and you know what? She was human. One of the whining puking larva." Castiel hit Uriel across the room. "She had a normal life. She lived above a coffee shop. She had friends and family and for some reason we dumped a destiny in her head." He picked Uriel up and tossed him into the wall. "She could have given up. She could have drunk herself into oblivion. She could have stayed in a drug induced coma in a mental ward. But she fought." Castiel glared at Uriel. "She fought and she found me, and she healed me. She died." Castiel said. "She died for me."

"I don't understand." Uriel said.

"A human gave her life for mine." Castiel said. "How can you deny God, deny his will, when that happens?" Uriel seemed to get upset at that.

"You haven't even met the man." Uriel growled getting the upper hand. "There is no will." Uriel hit him. "No wrath." Uriel hit him one more time. "No God." Uriel moved to hit him again but stopped as his own blade was shoved through her throat.

"Maybe or maybe not." Anna said from behind him. "But there's still me." She pulled the knife out and Uriel fell to the ground, gasping and gurgling as his grace exploded from his body and he was dead.

Anna reached down to pick up Castiel. "Thank You." He grunted.

"Don't thank me." Anna said helping him to his feet. "Thank Chloe. She sent me here, to help you, to save you. She knew you were in trouble." Castiel smiled at the thought. His Angel had saved him again. "You're not getting attached are you?" Anna helped him to sit down.

"What?" Castiel scoffed.

"Because you know what she has to do." Anna told him. "You know what she's here to do."

"I know." Castiel's good mood suddenly evaporated.

"Don't get soft on me." Anna sighed. "She's the only one who can do this."

"I know." Castiel snapped at Anna and stood up walking away from her. "I know." He whispered before disappearing.

* * *

Sam coerced Chloe into the ER to have her arm checked out. When it was wrapped he went off to get some coffee and she walked up to Dean's room.

"Is it true?" Dean's voice stopped Chloe in her tracks outside his door. Dean was awake and Castiel was with him. "That I broke the first seal? Did I start all this?"

"Yes." Castiel whispered. "When we discovered Lilith's plan for you, we laid siege to Hell. We fought our way to get to you before you…"

"Jump-started the Apocalypse?" Dean offered.

"And we were too late."

"Why didn't you just leave me there then?" The pain in Dean's voice nearly broke Chloe's heart.

"It's not blame that falls on you, Dean. It's fate. The righteous man that begins it, is the only one that can finish it. You - have to stop it." Castiel explained.

"Lucifer? The Apocalypse? What does that mean?" Dean snapped at him but Castiel is silent. "Hey! Don't you go disappearing on me, you son-of-a-bitch. What does that mean?"

"I don't know." Castiel told him.

"Bull!" Dean screamed.

"I don't. Dean, they don't tell me much. I know, our fate rests with you."

Dean sucked in a breath. "Then you guys are screwed. I can't do it, Cas. It's too big. Alistair was right, I'm not all here, I'm not strong enough. I guess I'm not the man either of my dad's wanted me to be. Find someone else. It's not me."

Chloe's heart was being faster and faster as she slowly put the pieces together, slowly realized her true purpose, her reason for being here. Castiel lifted his head and saw her through the window. "No." She breathed out and ran in the other direction. She ran the whole way down the stairs, shoved herself into the fresh air, hoping it would help but it didn't. She gasped trying to catch her breath and then took off running again.

She was trying to run away, trying to get away from what she had to do even though she knew she couldn't. "God I never got this good a workout when I was alive."

Chloe turned her head and almost tripped over her own feet when she saw Pamela running beside her. "You're dead." Chloe panted.

"Yeah they've got you stating the obvious now?" Pamela smiled. "I know technically it's impossible but I'm starting to get a bit winded could we stop?"

"No." Chloe shook her head. "I can't."

"You can't run away from this honey." Pamela shook her head. "You know it." Chloe just ignored her. "Ok, well, you do know there's a stone wall up ahead." Chloe looked up, gasped, and slid to a stop, her hands out in front of her to keep her face from smashing into the stones as Pamela sailed through it. She leaned her forehead against the cool stones and tried to catch her breath.

Pamela popped her head through the stones and smiled. "This is so cool you know." Pamela smiled walking back and forth through the stone wall.

"Can you stop that please?" Chloe turned and pressed her back against the wall. "It's freaking me out."

"Sure." Pamela smiled as Chloe slid down the wall to sit on the ground. Pamela imitated her. They sat in silence for a while as Chloe caught her breath.

"If you're dead how come you're here?" Chloe turned her head to Pamela.

"I made a deal with Tessa." Pamela smiled. "Nice girl, you know for a Reaper. She's letting me have a couple months before she comes to collect me. I wanted to see how this all would turn out."

"Turn out?" Chloe asked her.

"Yeah, if Dean actually manages to stop Lilith I want to be here to see the look on her face." Pamela smiled. "And if it all goes pear shaped, I got a front row seat to the apocalypse." Chloe laughed and Pamela laughed and suddenly she had to catch her breath again. "You done freaking out yet?" Pamela asked her.

"No." Chloe shook her head. "You know what I have to do right?" Pamela nodded. "Is this what you meant when you said you saw Death?" Pamela didn't say anything. "Right, so ghosts, just as cryptic as Angels."

"Hey, that's insulting." Pamela smiled. "Look sweetie, I'm privy to quite a bit more information now, one perk of being dead, and if I could tell you even an ounce of any of it, I'd spill my guts, figuratively." She sighed. "A shit storm the likes you've never seen before is coming and that's all I can tell you."

"If I do this." Chloe sighed. "Will it ensure that Dean stops Lilith?"

"No." Pamela said. "No one except Dean can ensure that. But if you don't do it, we're all screwed."

"So no pressure huh?" Chloe felt tears well up in her eyes.

"No one said life was fair." Pamela shrugged. "I gotta go. But I want you to know I owe you and I always pay my debts." Pamela told her. Chloe nodded and closed her eyes as Pamela disappeared.

She sat against the wall for a while crying silently until she heard a noise beside her. She lifted her head and wiped her eyes. "I'm here to heal him aren't I?" Chloe asked.

"I think so." Castiel stepped out of the shadows and held out a hand. "You're supposed to bring him back to life."

"He's not dead." Chloe let him pull her up confused.

"Yes he is." Castiel corrected her. "He died a year ago, he was torn apart by hellhounds then spent 40 years in hell. I took him out of there, but I didn't bring him back."

"I can't do that." Chloe shook her head, her voice small and afraid. "I can't do what you're asking of me. I heal wounds, not scars."

"You still don't realize what you did when you healed me do you?" Castiel stared her straight in the eyes. "You didn't just repair this human body, it was much more than that. You forced me, my essence, my grace, back into existence."

"And it hurt." Chloe snapped pushing herself off the wall and walking a few feet away. "It hurt worse than anything on this earth. It felt like my body was on fire from the inside, like my skin was being peeled off in millions of tiny strips excruciatingly slowly, like my bones were being crushed to fine powder with a spoon. I don't think you realize what I did when I healed you."

"You're scared." Castiel finally said as if just realizing it.

"Damn right I'm scared." Chloe wrapped her arms around her body.

"I don't understand." Castiel shook his head.

"Fear? It's a human emotion." Chloe snapped at him annoyed. "It's not pretty, it's not glamorous, it's horrible, it's constant and it makes us weak and stupid."

"I understand fear." Castiel took three quick steps toward her. He was staring her straight in the face. "Trust me, it's not just a human emotion." He tilted his head to the side trying to get a read on her. "What I don't understand is why you're scared. Of all things that you've seen, the things that you've been through, the times that you've been hurt or died, it doesn't make sense for you to fear a bit of pain. Especially in the face of hell on earth."

Chloe's face softened and her shoulders slumped. "I know." She said quietly. "I know you understand fear because you feel it, every single moment of every single day. You live in a constant state of fear that you'll fail, fail God, fail Dean, fail us. I know that it's so powerful that it builds and builds in your gut unti it almost blinds you."

"How can you…" Castiel took a step back from her.

"I know that because I felt what you felt. I felt everything that you felt. I experienced everything that you experienced. Every feeling, every emotion, everything." Chloe explained to him.

He stared at her for a moment and his face paled. "Everything I felt?" He bowed his head at the look on her face.

She brought a hand up to his cheek, forcing him to look into her eyes. "Yes, everything." She smiled sadly at him. "Even your doubt." She watched as tears started to well up in Castiel's eyes. "And the guilt over your doubt." She wiped away the tear. "And that hurt worse than the fear, oh so much worse." She sighed. "People who say emotions aren't physical, have no idea what they're talking about." She said sadly dropping her hand from his face and turning away. "Now do you see?"

"You think if you heal Dean, you'll feel what he felt, experience what he did?" Castiel asked.

"I don't think." Chloe shook her head. "I know. When I heal a physical wound, I have to take it from you. Whether it's a broken bone, or a gunshot wound or a stab wound, I have to make that wound become mine and allow my body to heal it. I have to feel the pain that you felt when that bullet entered your body, I have to bleed the blood that you bled. The same goes with emotional scars. For there to be a scar, there has to be a wound, I have to take whatever it was that hurt you and I have to let it hurt me."

Castiel was silent as what she said sunk in. "You'll have to feel what he felt."

"I won't survive it." Chloe shook her head. "Even without a physical wound, if I heal Dean, I die."

"But you'll come back." Castiel said. "That's what you do, that's your power."

"No." Chloe shook her head. "Not this time. I almost didn't make it back with you. The pain was so unbelievable, so constant and excruciating and I knew that if I let go, if I stopped fighting that I could end it. If I allowed myself to die, I could end the pain, end the suffering."

"Why didn't you?" He asked her.

"Amidst all the fear, all the doubt, all the guilt and worry, you have him. God." Chloe looked up and Castiel followed her gaze. "You have him in a way that humans can't ever imagine having him. You have this incredible capacity for love and that love for him and for us is so strong, so certain and so unconditional that it burned everything else. It still hurt, in some ways it was so strong that it hurt more than anything else, but it also gave me hope. That's what kept me holding on." She sighed. "Dean doesn't have that, he can't have that. His life took any of that away from him. Losing his mother, losing his father, loosing Sam, the constant fighting, the constant battles, all the people he didn't save, all the people he couldn't save that's going to hurt. And then there's…"

"Hell." Castiel finally realized what exactly it was that Chloe was going to have to do.

"He was there for forty years, and the first thirty aren't going to hurt nearly as much as the last ten." Chloe laughed bitterly. "And I'm going to feel every single agonizing second of that."

Again the silence seemed to engulf them, suffocating them until Castiel spoke. "I realize that it's a lot to ask of one person, of you. You didn't ask for this, you don't deserve it…"

"Save the hard sell." Chloe sighed and looked up at the sky. "I'm going to do it." She studied the stars for a second, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath of fresh air. "Just because it's going to hurt doesn't mean I'm going to run and hide. I didn't ask for this and I don't deserve it but neither does Dean or Sam, or the millions of other people on earth who would have hell rain down upon them just because I was scared. Besides, the reaper said that Dean would be the death of me and who am I to defy the expert on the subject. So don't worry, I'm going to do it." She turned to the angel. "I just have to figure out how." Chloe started to walk away and Castiel stopped her.

"Chloe…" Castiel started and she shook her head.

"Dean doesn't get to know ok." Chloe smiled at him as tears fell down her face. "He'd never let me if he knew what I had to do. I can't protect him if he's worried about protecting me, and that's my job now. I understand that now."

"God chose you for this special task and you will be rewarded." He said to her.

"God didn't choose me." Chloe wiped her eyes and walked away. "Anna did."

* * *

Chloe walked around for hours thinking about what she had to do, about what Castiel was asking her to do. In the grand scheme of things it really wasn't that big a deal, her life for thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions even. There was no way to say no to something like that, there was no way she could be that selfish. It didn't mean she had to like it, it didn't mean she was suddenly gung ho about the whole thing.

One thing was for sure, Dean couldn't know what was going on, he couldn't even know that anything was going on so that was Chloe's primary mission. Operation Keep Dean in the Dark. Looking at it from a 'Watchtower' point of view instantly made everything easier and she pulled out her phone, dialing a number. "Hey Victor I need you to get some things together for me." She paused. "Yeah I'm still demon hunting." She smiled slightly. "Just a few things, actually if you could get Bart to bring them to me that would be great. Thanks." She sighed in relief.

"Hey I found this guy wandering the lobby looking for you." Sam walked in Dean's room with coffee and Bart.

"Hey." Chloe jumped up to hug Bart and then took her coffee from Sam. "You've got something for me?"

"Yeah." Bart smiled at her. "Victor didn't know what it was and he was going to ask Oliver, but I stopped him."

Chloe relaxed, Oliver would never had let her use it. "Thank you. I'll have it back before he knows it's gone."

"You know how much it's worth?" Bart raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah I know." Chloe took the box from him.

"I also have this." Bart handed her a flash drive. "Tonight at midnight your time." He looked at Dean. "Can you still do this or…"

"No, he'll sleep until next week, I can do this." Chloe assured him.

"I gotta go." Bart said. "Everyone else is in Malaysia already." He kissed her cheek and then sped out of the building.

"What's a midnight?" Sam asked confused.

"My day job." Chloe smiled at him as she carefully set the box down on a table and then opened her computer to get brought up to date on what she needed to know for tonight's mission.

* * *

Dean had been awake since a little after midnight but he didn't bring attention to it because he was enjoying the show. It was half past two now and it seemed as if Chloe was tying things up. Chloe just assumed he was asleep and had turned his hospital room into a sort of command center. She had her computer and Sam's computer both open and in use on his dinner tray. She'd hooked both of them up to his television and there was some sort of blueprint up on it. She had an earpiece in her ear and was using her phone for something. "Cyborg check your six, I've got a faint heat signal three doors down." Chloe clicked something on her screen. "Probably a rat but check it out."

"On it Watchtower." He called back.

"Hey Tower, you need someone to check _your _six, I'm more than happy to apply for the job."

"Thanks for the offer Impulse." Chloe rolled her eyes. "But the positions been filled."

"By who?" Impulse asked.

"By none of your business." Chloe told him.

"It's that guy huh?" Dean's ears perked up at this. "Hospital guy?"

"Impulse don't you have a job to do?" Chloe ignored him.

"Dudes in a hospital bed, how can he possibly be watching her six?" Impulse scoffed.

"Impulse." The Green Arrows voice snapped over the line.

"Trust me, he watches my six just fine thank you." Chloe said. The line was quiet as Dean smirked to himself. "I didn't mean…"

"Sure you didn't." Cyborg said humor in his voice.

"Anyone want to do some actual work?" Aquaman called out.

"Right." Chloe smiled. "If Cyborg's heat signature was a rat you guys are clear."

"Mouse actually." Cyborg said.

"Mouse?" Chloe asked. "You're going to blow up a little mouse?"

The line was quiet again. "You want me to catch the mouse?" Cyborg asked.

"It's a little mouse." Chloe sighed and Dean smiled at her.

"I've got it." Impulse groaned.

"Thank you." Chloe smiled. "Everyone clear?"

"Aquaman clear."

"Cyborg clear."

"Green Arrow clear."

"Impulse plus mouse clear."

"Green Arrow go for demo." Chloe said.

"Roger that Watchtower." Green Arrow said and Dean heard an explosion.

"Good job." Chloe yawned. "Watchtower out."

"Wait, what am I going to do with this mouse?" Impulse asked.

"Buy a cage." Chloe smiled before turning off her computers.

"I watch your six just fine?" Dean asked her.

"You're awake." She smiled brightly as she shut her stuff down.

"Yeah, are you ok?" He saw the bandage on her arm.

"Fine." She assured him brushing his concern off. "I'm more worried about you."

"Me?" Dean scoffed. "Please. I'm fine. Just won't be out stargazing for a while."

"Ah, that's what you think." Chloe smiled excitedly. "Scoot over." She said to him then she climbed up next to him in the bed and grabbed her computer. "Sit back and enjoy the show." She pushed a button and suddenly the room was filled with a 3-D holographic projection of the night sky. Every star, every constellation, exactly where they would have been had Chloe and Dean been outside on the hood of a car. Dean reached his arm out and his hand passed through an asteroid belt.

"This is freaking awesome." Dean smiled. "It's just like being outside."

"It's better than being outside." Chloe countered. "Can't really see the big dipper? No problem." Chloe typed a few things and suddenly the big dipper was the only thing they could see.

"How did you do this?" Dean smiled over at her.

"It's nice having friends in high places." Chloe said nodding to the large black box across the room that was projecting the sky on the ceiling. "It's actually a prototype from Star Labs Astronomy division. We've got to be really careful because if we break it I owe Oliver 75 billion dollars." Dean laughed. "I'm not kidding." Chloe looked at him and he swallowed audibly.

"Ok." Chloe typed something and the whole night sky came back up. "Where were we last time?"

"Lyra." Dean reminded her.

"Ah." Chloe found the constellation and enlarged it. "Here you go."

"What's the story behind that one?" Dean tried to remember something from the Greek Mythology class he took so long ago.

"The Lyre was the instrument given to Orpheus. When his wife, Eurydice died, Orpheus went into the underworld to get her back and moving Persephone to tears with his music and she allowed him to have Eurydice back. Except he could only have her if he promised that he wouldn't look at her until they were in the light of the sun."

"Did he do it?" Dean asked.

"No." Chloe said sadly. "He didn't." She took a deep breath. "He had made it all the way out of the underworld but she wasn't quiet in the sun yet. He was too anxious to make sure she was still there, he turned and held out a hand for her, but she vanished, this time forever."

"That's bullshit." Dean shook his head. "If he loved her, truly loved her why would he look back?" He turned to look at Chloe.

"Because love and trust don't always go hand in hand." Chloe shrugged and turned to face him. "Because as much as he loved her he didn't trust her and so he lost her."

"I trust you." Dean whispered to her.

"I trust you too." Chloe leaned forward and Dean closed his eyes and at the last second she shifted and kissed his forehead. When she pulled back they were quiet just staring at each other when Sam walked in and froze in the doorway.

"Am I interrupting something?" He asked.

"No." Chloe turned away. "Pull up a chair, we're stargazing."

"Indoors?" Sam looked up at the ceiling.

"Why not?" Chloe offered.

"Why not." Sam smiled and sat down as Chloe went through more constellations.

* * *

Author's Note: The dialogue between Dean and Castiel and between Castiel and Uriel is not mine. It is taken straight from the show, wirtten by thier talented writers.


	6. Pandora

Author's Note: Ok, just watched the season finale of Smallville and I'm more than slightly annoyed at the opening sequence where Chloe and Davis sit on the roof of a car, stargazing as Davis explains Demeter and Persephone, which is a story parallel to the their situation…you know sort of like how Chloe and Dean have done in every single chapter of my story which I started writing before this show aired. (I do realize that for the show to air on Thursday night it was written and conceived long before I started my story but I can still be pissed and state for the record that they stole my idea, I DID NOT STEAL THEIRS)

* * *

Dean pulled the extra key card out of his pocket and slid it in the door to Chloe's room. The light turned from green to red and he walked on in. "Chloe?" He called out to let her know it was him. When she didn't answer he paused and frowned. Then he heard the water running in the bathroom.

Dean walked over to the bathroom door and knocked on it a couple of times. "Chloe."

"Dean?" She called out.

"I got your note." Dean pulled the post it out of his pocket and looked at it. "We need to talk." Was all it said.

"I'll be out in a minute." She screamed over the sound of the water. "Make yourself comfortable."

"Sure." Dean turned around and saw her computer open. The screen was split into quarters. Each corner of the screen had a name, Green Arrow, Aquaman, Cyborg, and Impulse with a current latitude and longitude next to each name along with current vital stats like heart rate and blood pressure. He smiled and turned to the stack of file folders on her desk. He was looking at one that had layout and security specs of some warehouse somewhere that was probably a 33.1 lab.

"Sorry about the note." Chloe called out to him when the water turned off. "It was a bit brief."

"A bit." Dean agreed with her putting the file down and picking up another. Most of the stuff in them was like Greek to him and he was amazed that it made any sense to Chloe. "What do we need to talk about?"

"Proximity." Chloe said, her voice was no longer muffled by the door as she stepped into the room bringing a quick burst of warm air with her.

"Proximity?" Dean asked. "In relation to?"

"Your proximity to me." Chloe said and Dean turned around to her confused only to have his question get lodged in his throat.

He swallowed, once, twice, then a third time before responding. "Really?" She was naked, completely and utterly naked. Her body glistening with beads of water from her showers that seemed to draw Dean's eye everywhere and nowhere all at once.

"Yeah." Chloe took a step forward. "See, I think if I'm expected to do my job properly." She took another step forward as her hair dripped water to her bare shoulders. "We need to be closer."

"Closer?" Dean swallowed hard again as she stopped a foot away from him. "Do you want to maybe get dressed before we continue this conversation?"

"I'm good." Chloe shook her head.

"Maybe a towel?" Dean whispered.

"Fresh out." Chloe smiled and laid her hands on Dean's chest. "I need to be closer to you Dean." She pressed her body against his and he reached out for her hips to steady her. She stood up on her tip toes, her lips a breath away from his. "Don't you want to be closer to me?" She leaned forward just a bit and her lips were on his. His fingers instinctively tightened on her hips as he pulled her closer. Chloe's hands traveled up his chest to dig into his hair.

She pulled away and smiled at him as she took a step back and Dean frowned at her absence. "What?" He asked as his hands fell from her hips.

"Just thought you might like to get a bit more comfortable." Chloe said climbing up on the bed and smiling at him in what Dean could only describe as a "come hither" way.

"Dean." He closed his eyes annoyed and turned around to see Castiel standing there, avoiding looking in the direction of the bed with all his might.

"No." Dean groaned and turned from Castiel to Chloe, who didn't move at all to cover up, didn't seem to care that Cas was in the room. "I'm dreaming aren't I?"

"I needed someplace safe to talk to you." Castiel said.

"About what?" Dean asked.

"Not here." Castiel said passing Dean a piece of paper. "Meet me here."

"Hey." Dean looked over at the bed where Chloe was. "This isn't what it looks like."

Castiel spared him a small smile. "You should have seen her dream." He said then vanished.

"Dean." Chloe wiggled her fingers at him. "Oh Dean."

"You have no idea how bad I want to." Dean sighed and closed his eyes.

"Dean." This call was sharp and annoyed and Dean's eyes flew open when something hit him on the side of his head. "Wake up dumb ass." Chloe's face was hovering over his and he looked around. He was in his bed, in his room, not in Chloe's. Chloe wasn't smiling sweetly at him, she was glaring with her hands over her chest and he sighed. It had been a nice dream while it lasted.

"What?" Dean sat up slowly. He almost threw the covers off but stopped at the last minute. A small vestige of the dream had followed him into his waking life and he wasn't ready to share that with Chloe yet. "What's going on?"

"Something's wrong." Chloe said, panic in her voice now.

"Sammy?" Dean seemed to wake up more.

"He's fine." Chloe sat down on the bed next to him. "It's Castiel. Something's wrong."

"What do you mean?" Dean frowned.

"He came to me in a dream." Chloe said.

"In your dream?" Dean thought about what Castiel had said. "You should have seen hers." Dean smirked at her. "He interrupt anything good?"

Chloe's whole face flushed bright red and she turned away from Dean which only made him smirk harder. "He said I needed to bring you to him. He said it was important."

"I know, he came to me too." Dean climbed out of the bed and grabbed his pants. "He told me where to go."

"That's just it." Chloe shook her head. "I know where he is, all the time. It's something that happened after I healed him."

"And?" Dean grabbed a shirt.

"He's not where he said he'd be. He's nowhere."

"He can't be nowhere." Dean frowned. "You gotta be somewhere."

"He's not." Chloe said. "He's nowhere. At least, nowhere on earth."

Dean sighed and grabbed his shoes, tossing one on Sam's sleeping form, jerking him awake as Chloe sighed in relief.

* * *

Dean, Sam, and Chloe walked up to the warehouse. "Something's wrong here." Chloe said.

"Stay behind me." Dean grabbed her arm and pushed her back a bit.

"No problem." Chloe assured him as they walked in. The place looked like one good sneeze could blow the whole thing down. "Some serious shit went down here." Chloe pointed to a hastily scribbled spell on the wall. "That's a banishing spell."

"You mean Angel on Angel violence?" Dean asked. They heard a groan and rushed over to a pile of debris. "Cas." Dean said pulling the pieces of broken wood off of him. "Hey Cas, are you here?"

"That's not Castiel." Chloe took a step back from him. "He's not here anymore."

"Then who the hell is this?" Dean asked confused.

"I'm Jimmy Novak." The guy said and Dean, Sam, and Chloe looked at each other confused.

"This can't be good." Dean groaned.

* * *

Chloe stood on the other side of the room, her arms crossed over her chest as she stared at the three guys at the table. Castiel, or rather Jimmy was on his third hamburger. Though it had been his body all along, it had been Castiel who was trespassing, Chloe couldn't help but feel like Jimmy was the one that didn't belong. "When was the last time you ate?"

"I don't know." Jimmy swallowed. "Months, years maybe. Angel's don't need food. Or sleep."

"Look, Jimmy, what happened out there?" Sam asked him.

"I don't know." Jimmy shook his head. "I don't remember much."

"Cas said he needed to tell me something." Dean said. "Do you know what that was?"

"No. I don't remember." Jimmy sighed.

"Is there anything you remember?" Sam asked hopefully. Jimmy looked up and Dean and Sam followed his gaze until it landed on Chloe.

"I remember her." Jimmy said.

"Chloe?" Dean frowned. "That's it?"

"She's important to him. He thinks of her as his guardian Angel. He's very protective of her." Jimmy frowned. "It bothers him a little, how much he cares."

"Bring him back." Chloe glared at the man.

"No." Jimmy stood up. "Look, I couldn't if I wanted to, I don't know how. But I don't want to."

"I need him." Chloe said. "We need him."

"What about what I need?" Jimmy asked her. "I need to see my wife and daughter. I need a good night's sleep for once." He took a few steps closer to Chloe. "He has dragged my body over every single god forsaken inch of this planet. I've been shot at and stabbed and beaten and healed. I'm done. I've done my duty, I've paid my service."

"You can't just quit." Chloe said to him.

"Watch me." Jimmy glared at her.

"Hold on, just wait a minute." Dean got up and moved Chloe back a little. "I know you're tired, I know you want nothing more than to go back to your life but you can't." Dean shook his head. "Not yet."

"Why?" Jimmy asked.

"Look, you may be Jimmy from Ohio." Sam told him.

"Illinois." Jimmy corrected.

"But the guy using your body for the past year. He was an Angel of the Lord. He made a lot of enemies, kept a lot of valuable knowledge." Sam pointed out.

"But I don't know anything." Jimmy protested.

"They don't know that." Dean said. "And they will torture and kill you until they're satisfied that they got everything out of you but not before they make you watch as they torture and kill your family."

"No." Jimmy shook his head.

"Yes." Dean said. "So you've got to stay here, with us, where we can protect you, where you can protect your family."

"Ok." Jimmy nodded reluctantly.

* * *

"Hey." Dean sat down next to Chloe who was perched on the edge of his bed, her legs crossed her arms ramrod straight as she stared at the sleeping form of Jimmy Novak. "You've been kind of weird today."

"Have I?" Chloe asked, refusing to take her eyes off of Jimmy.

"You've been giving Jimmy there the stink eye every since we found him." Dean told her.

"I don't trust him." Chloe said.

"Ok. I get that." Dean assured her. "But he's sleeping now. I think we're safe, we can relax a bit."

She sighed and put her head down, relaxing her shoulders and then she looked at him very seriously. "It is the sworn duty of all officers to try to escape. If they cannot escape, then it is their sworn duty to cause the enemy to use an inordinate number of troops to guard them, and their sworn duty to harass the enemy to the best of their ability."

Dean stared at Chloe, a small smile on his face. "Did you seriously just quote "The Great Escape?" to me?" Chloe nodded as she looked down slightly embarrassed. "You're like the perfect woman."

"I don't like this Dean. I don't like what this means." Chloe turned to look at Jimmy.

"I know the feeling." Dean sighed.

* * *

Sam looked over at Jimmy sleeping peacefully in his bed then spared a glance at Dean's bed. He smiled as Chloe shifted, moving closer to Dean as she laid across his chest, at some point they both fallen asleep and Sam didn't have the heart to wake them. He watched as Dean's hand unconsciously made soothing motions against her back, even in his sleep. Sam wondered for a second if maybe the one good thing to come out of all of this would be that Dean found Chloe. He liked Chloe, he liked who Dean was when she was around and he started to think that maybe the first time that they really could have a life and do this job. The pain in his gut tightened again and Sam grabbed his midsection as he walked out the door.

Jimmy opened one eye to make sure that Sam was gone and Dean and Chloe were asleep. He climbed out of bed, reached for Chloe's bag then stopped, he couldn't steal from her. He grabbed Dean's wallet instead and took out all the cash before slipping out of the room.

When Sam walked back in the room he closed the door a little louder than he meant and Chloe's head shot up. "It's just me." Sam smiled at her. "It's ok, go back to bed."

Chloe nodded and moved to lay her head back on Dean's chest. She stopped halfway there and frowned. "Sam, where's Jimmy?" She sat up instead of laying down.

Sam looked over at his bed which was now empty and then back at Chloe. She jumped out of the bed and walked to the bathroom, shaking her head at Sam when she saw it was empty. "You let him get away."

Dean glared at Sam as they drove down the highway. "What were you doing anyway?"

"I was getting a coke." Sam glared at Dean.

"Was it a refreshing coke?" Dean asked him.

"Guys, not helping." Chloe snapped from the backseat. "Ok, I've got a route set, stay I-94 for another hundred miles then you're going to want take 55 South."

They drove the rest of the way in silence, Dean's foot heavy on the accelerator and no one saying what everyone was thinking, "What if they were too late."

Chloe led them through the streets of Pontiac until they pulled up to a house in the middle of the suburbs. "Wow." Dean looked at the house. "Talk about a normal life."

"As normal as you can get." Chloe climbed out of the car just as they heard a scream inside.

"Not so much anymore." Sam grabbed the shotgun out of the trunk and threw it to Dean as they ran in the house. Chloe froze in the doorway. Jimmy was staring at the scene helpless which seemed odd to Chloe because she'd never seen Castiel look helpless. Then she saw what Jimmy saw, his daughter in the hands of a demon.

Chloe watched as Sam snuck up behind the demon and slits its throat with the knife. She lunged forward grabbed the girl's arm and pulled her out of harm's way. "Come on, come with me." Chloe said to who she assumed was Jimmy's wife.

"Get them out of here." Dean screamed as more demons came through the windows.

"Come on." Chloe urged them taking them out to the front porch. She knelt down in front of the girl and smiled. "Put your hands over your ears sweetie, can you do that for me?" Chloe asked and she nodded, covering her ears as they made their way to the car. Chloe flinched every time the shotgun went off and just when they got to the car, Jimmy, Sam, and Dean ran out of the house and straight for them.

"In the car." Dean screamed. Chloe ushered everyone in the car then climbed in herself as the guys jumped in and Dean tore out of the street like a bat out of hell. "Is everyone ok?" Dean looked through the rear view mirror as he tried to catch his breath.

"I'm good." Chloe assured him.

"Define ok." Amelia, Jimmy's wife panted out.

"Alive." Sam smiled at her.

"Then yeah, we're ok." She nodded.

When they were an hour out of town Dean pulled off the highway and found a parking lot. "Can you keep an eye on them while we talk to Jimmy?"

"Sure." Chloe nodded as the guys got out of the car.

"So he wasn't lying to us?" Amelia said. "None of it was a lie?"

"No." Chloe shook her head.

"The Angel?"

"Castiel?" Chloe asked and Amelia nodded. "He's real; he's just not here right now."

"Where did he go?" Amelia asked. "Why did he leave? If Jimmy needs him, if you guys need him, why did he leave?"

"I wish I knew the answer to that."

"Is Daddy back now?" Claire asked quietly. "For good?" When no one said anything her bottom lip started to tremble. "He's not leaving again is he?"

"I…" Chloe felt all her words leave her and she swallowed. "Excuse me." She got out of the car as fast as she could and took a few steps away.

Dean watched her out of the corner of his eye as Sam went in search of a car and Jimmy walked over to his family. "Hey." Dean walked over to her. Chloe was standing there, bent over with her hands on her knees. "You ok?"

"I think seeing them." Chloe tried to catch her breath. "Seeing his family, made it real to me."

"Made what real?" Dean frowned.

"He's a person." Chloe stood up. "He had a life. He had a wife, a daughter, a job selling add space on AM radio."

"We had lives before this." Dean said. "You had a life, you had a job."

"It's different. I've been so busy hating Jimmy because I wanted Cas back. But really I should be hating Cas. Hating him for what he did to Jimmy, hating him for what he put the family through. Yet still a small part of me doesn't care and just wants Castiel back. I'm a horrible person." Chloe looked up at Dean sadly.

"No." Dean put an arm over her shoulder. "You're just human."

"What happens now?" Chloe asked.

"Sam's going to get them a car, we're going to keep Jimmy safe. Until Cas comes back." Dean told her.

"If Cas comes back." Chloe corrected him.

"He will." Dean assured her. "He has too."

Chloe and Dean walked back to the car as Sam drove up in a car for Amelia and Claire. After a tearful goodbye everyone got in the car and drove away. Chloe was in the backseat with Jimmy while Sam and Dean sat in the front. "You're mad at me." Jimmy said, not looking at Chloe.

"I was." Chloe said truthfully to him. "I think now I'm just mad."

"I know what you mean." Jimmy finally turned to her and smiled slightly.

"Did you ever…" Chloe was cut off when Sam's phone rang and he passed it back to Jimmy. He listens for a minute and then closes the phone, a look of shock on his face. "Jimmy?" Chloe put a hand on his arm.

"My wife." Jimmy said slowly. "They've got my wife and daughter."

Dean and Sam exchanged a look before immediately turning the car around.

* * *

Chloe watched Jimmy rage against Castiel in the alleyway and her heart broke for him when there was no answer. "Chloe." Dean said. "You know what to do?" She moved her attention from Jimmy to Dean and nodded. He slipped her a knife and she sliced down her palm and set to work. Dean and Sam stood watch in the alley way as Chloe drew the spell on the ground, the spell that she said would bring Castiel back to Jimmy.

Suddenly a hand was around her mouth and she was pulled backward. "You don't think I can smell that sweet, sweet blood of yours a mile away?" The demon whispered in her ear and it licked her neck. She couldn't scream, she couldn't call out so she did whatever she could to try and get Dean's attention, eventually knocking over a pile of boxes.

"Chloe." Dean screamed and ran for her, knocked the demon back and giving her just enough time to crawl back to her hastily drawn spell and slam her bloody hand on the center. "Did you do it?" Dean asked her.

"I think so." Chloe nodded as they were overpowered and captured by the demons. Chloe kept her eyes on Jimmy the moment they walked in the door. She knew that she'd finished the spell, she knew that it had worked, but Jimmy was showing all the signs that he was still Jimmy, and not that his body was currently being possessed by an Angel of the Lord. It was completely obvious that Castiel was not there when the demon shot Jimmy in the stomach and he went down. "No." Chloe screamed and pulled against her captors as the blood poured out of Jimmy's chest wound.

"Kill the kid." The woman smiled and one of the demons nodded, walking over to Jimmy's daughter who'd been tied to a chair at the other side of the room. Chloe shut her eyes and turned her head as the demon grabbed a metal pipe and swung for the girl. She was waiting for the horrifying sound of metal crushing bone but it never came.

"Holy shit." Dean whispered under his breath. Chloe opened her eyes just in time to see Claire place her hand on the demons head and he was burned away in a bright white light.

"Cas." Chloe whispered. Dean took the shock as an opportunity get the upper hand back from the demons, freeing Chloe and going after the rest of them.

Chloe ran and slid to a stop next to Jimmy, shoving his jacket aside to put pressure on his wound. "Don't worry." Chloe forced a smile on her face even while blood flowed through her fingers. "This is getting to be a habit." She joked.

"We've been here before you and I." Jimmy smiled up at her as he coughed.

"Claire?" Jimmy asked.

"I'm sorry, he was supposed to come back to you. I meant for him to come back to you." She wiped tears out of her eyes. "I never would have done it if I'd known he'd use Claire."

Chloe looked over her shoulder to see Claire/Castiel take care of the remaining demons and then back down at her hands which were sitting uselessly on top of his still gushing wound. "It's not working this time is it?" He asked her.

"I can't…" Chloe said frustrated as once again her power failed her.

"It won't work." Castiel knelt down beside Chloe and Jimmy. "His body will die. He's served us well, it's time for him to go. He'll rest forever in the fields of the Lord." Castiel turned to Jimmy. "Rest now."

"But Claire." Jimmy choked out.

"She's with me now, she's chosen it's in her blood as it was in yours." Castiel explained.

"Please take me, take me." Jimmy pleaded with him.

Castiel stared at him for a second. "I want to make sure you understand. You won't die, or age. If this last year was painful for you picture a hundred or a thousand more like it."

Jimmy shook his head. "Doesn't matter, take me, just take me."

"As you wish." Castiel placed both of his hands on the side of Jimmy's face and he screamed in pain as he was consumed by a white light. When the light faded Claire was free and Castiel was back in Jimmy. Amelia ran to Claire as Castiel stood up and just walked away.

"Cas, hold on. What were you going to tell me." Dean asked him.

Castiel looked over at Amelia and Claire, then at Chloe as she pulled herself to her feet. "I learned my lesson while I was away, I serve heaven I don't serve man and I certainly don't serve you."

Chloe watched as Castiel walked away as if they hadn't spent the last two days trying to keep his vessel safe, trying to get him back. Anger welled up inside her and she stormed to the door, ignoring Dean and Sam as she shoved the door open. "Hey." Chloe ran to catch up to him. "Hey!" She grabbed his arm and spun him around. "You don't get to just walk away from us after that."

"You're mad at me." Castiel tilted his head at her. It occurred to her that Jimmy had uttered the same sentence not two hours ago, only his was less regretful and no so nonchalant.

"You're amused by that." Chloe glared at him. "You find it funny?"

"This is about Jimmy?" He asked.

"You're damn right this is about Jimmy." Chloe smacked him. "How can you do that? How can you tear people away from their families, ruin their lives?"

"His family is safe." Castiel said.

"There's a difference between safe and happy." Chloe pointed out.

"I never promised happiness." Castiel turned to walk away.

"Hey, don't walk away from me." Chloe screamed and ran after him. "I brought you here, I can send you back."

He turned around suddenly he was right in front of her and grabbed her by the throat. "You really need to learn your place. You think you're special? You're not." He dropped her and she clutched at her throat. "You're here to do your job and that's it."

"Cas?" Chloe looked up at him sadly and she noticed that it wasn't anger or even fear in his eyes, it was sorrow and defeat. "What did they do to you?"

"They just reminded me that I had a job to do." Castiel stared her seriously. "That we all have a job to do. You want me to weep for Jimmy? I can't do that. None of this matters Chloe. In the grand scheme of things your life, Jimmy's life. We can't let it matter."

"Jimmy's life mattered." Chloe said to him. "It mattered to Amelia and it mattered to Claire." Castiel just turned and walked away. "My life matters." Chloe screamed after him.

"Chloe?" Dean walked up behind her. "Are you ok?"

"Fine." Dean reached down to help her up and she brushed him off and pulled herself to her feet. "I'm fine."

"What are we supposed to do now?" Sam asked.

"Get in the car." Chloe said without looking at him.

"What?" Dean asked her.

"Get everyone in the car." Chloe pulled out her phone and walked away a little.

"Ok." Dean said to her back. "You want to tell me where we're going?" Chloe waved him away as she talked on the phone. Amelia and Claire turned to Dean concerned. "Don't worry it's all under control." He assured them.

Chloe barely spoke as they drove save to tell Dean where to go. By the time they stopped for gas in Missouri Dean had had enough. Amelia and Claire went in to go to the bathroom and get some food, Sam following them just in case. "It's only about five more hours." Chloe told him stretching her neck. "I'm going to get some coffee."

"No." Dean grabbed her arm and pulled her back to the car. "You're going to talk to me."

"What do you want me to say?" Chloe asked him.

"First off, you can drop the attitude because of all the people you have right now to be pissed at, I'm not one of them." Dean reminded her.

Chloe's whole body seemed to deflate at his words and she sunk against the car. "I know."

"What happened?" Dean asked her. "Between you and Castiel. What did he say to you?"

"He just reminded me that I had a job to do." Chloe said.

"Does he think you forgot?" Dean asked.

"I can't forget." Chloe said sadly.

Dean paused and titled his head to her. "Chloe, what exactly is it that you have to do?" Dean asked her confused.

Chloe opened her mouth to reply. She wasn't sure what she was going to tell him, what she was going say when Sam saved her having to come up with a lie. "Fresh coffee."

"Sammy." Chloe broke out her brilliant smile, though Dean could tell it was forced. "You are my number one favorite person on the planet right now."

Sam blushed and handed her the cup before ducking into the car. Claire and Amelia followed as Dean finished pumping the gas and somehow, magically Chloe was back to her old self. She pulled a pad out of her bag and passed it to Amelia. "I need you to make two lists for me ok?" Amelia nodded. "I need you to make a list of anywhere you've ever lived, anywhere you have family living, anywhere you've ever vacationed, visited, spent any time at any point."

"What's this for?" Amelia asked confused as she started writing.

"When you start your new life, you can go anywhere in the world except places on that list." Chloe told her.

"Ok." Amelia nodded. "What's the second list?"

"The second list is going to be anything from your house that you absolutely have to have. The bare necessities are best here but if there's a piece of furniture that's been passed down through ten generations we can work with that."

"It's all from Pottery Barn." Amelia shook her head.

"Good, that makes it easier. Any clothes, any books, any jewelry or toys that you can't part with you have to write it down. Be specific, the less we take, the better. All your computers, any personal documents, birth certificates, social security cards, all of it will be destroyed." Chloe told her. "Give me your wallet." Amelia dug it out of her bag. "You not Amelia Novak anymore, you can never be Amelia Novak again."

"Am I still Claire?" Claire spoke for the first time.

"I'm sorry sweetie." Chloe frowned at her.

"How about this honey." Amelia grabbed her hands. "You can pick our new names." She looked over at Chloe to make sure that was ok. Chloe nodded.

"Ok." Claire said and turned to the window to think.

* * *

"Here?" Dean got out of the car and looked around. They were in an alleyway in Metropolis and the sun was just setting in the sky.

"Push the buzzer for 4b." Chloe called out as she helped Claire and Amelia out of the car.

Dean searched the buzzer and pushed the button squinting as Chloe came up behind him. "Who's Griffin?" He asked her.

"The Invisible Man." Chloe smiled at him. "It's his name in the original novel. This is a safe house, Oliver thought it fitting."

The door buzzed open and Chloe led them up the stairs and to a door. "Home Sweet Home." She said reaching for the door. It was opened for her and Chloe smiled when she saw Bart standing there. "I knew you'd change your mind and come home." Bart smiled at her. "There's no way you can last two whole months without a bit of Bart."

Dean chuckled but Chloe smiled so he let it go. It was the first real smile she'd had since Castiel came back. "God I missed you Bart." Chloe jumped forward hugging him so tight that even he was surprised. He wrapped his arms around her waist and his smile fell as she just held on tight to him.

"What did you do to Chloe?" Victor asked from behind them. "Last time Bart got a hug like that was what? Peru?"

"Yeah, we'd been hiking the jungles for three days with limited supplies and Bart travels all the way to Seattle just to get her a genuine Starbucks." AC pointed out.

"It's not like Chloe to give Bart hugs without coffee." Victor shook his head and Chloe laughed as she let go of Bart and gave Victor and AC the same treatment. Hugging them so tight they too started to frown.

"Ok, I'd like to believe she just missed my natural charisma but seriously, is she ok?" Bart frowned at Dean.

"It's been a rough couple of days." Dean said as he led Amelia and Claire into the apartment.

"Tell me about it." Oliver stood in the doorway to the kitchen, his hands crossed over his chest. "No really." He took a few steps forward. "Tell me about it."

"Maybe later." Chloe pulled away from Victor and Oliver caught her wiping tears from her eyes as she composed herself. "This is Amelia and Claire." Amelia stepped forward slightly. "They need a new life." Chloe looked at Oliver pleadingly and he just stared at her.

"Hey." Victor said sensing some tension. "That's what we do best." Victor smiled at them trying to ease them a bit.

"Bart." Chloe smiled. "Phone." Bart handed over his phone and Chloe flipped it open, typing something into the screen before handing it back to him. "I need you to go to this location and get these things." Chloe passed him the list that Amelia had made in the car.

"No problem." Bart tipped his imaginary hat and then he was gone.

"AC, could you show them around?" Chloe yawned. "You guys will be staying here for a few days, until we can get you set up somewhere permanent."

"Sure." AC motioned them to follow her.

"Can I talk to you in the kitchen?" Oliver asked her.

"Sam, Dean can you do the demon proofing?" They nodded at her. "Show Victor what to do, he'll need to do it at their new house when we move them."

"We got it." Sam smiled at her as she followed Oliver into the kitchen.

"What's going on Chloe?" He asked after closing the door.

Chloe stared at him for a second. "Do you remember Castiel?"

"The Angel?" Oliver asked. "Kind of hard to forget."

"Well I found out the body that Castiel was using had a name and a life and a family." Chloe said. Oliver turned around. "Yeah that's his wife and daughter. Jimmy, his name was Jimmy Novak." She sucked in a deep breath. "He chose to be a vessel, chose to allow Castiel to use him in his holy mission. He left his family, he quit his job, he basically ruined his life for this crusade that he didn't fully understand. Then something happened and Castiel got sent back leaving Jimmy here. The problem with that is the demons know Jimmy's body, they figured that maybe Jimmy knew something, remembered something from when Castiel was using him and they are definitely not above using, killing his family to get to him."

"Where's Jimmy now?" Oliver asked confused.

"I had to bring Castiel back, Jimmy's gone. He's never coming back." Chloe sighed. "But his family is still in danger."

"No problem Chloe." Oliver assured her. "They'll have a new life, a new home, a new everything by end of business tomorrow. You know I'll help in any way I can."

"Thank you." Chloe sighed in relief.

"There's something else though." Oliver studied her. "Something's going on with you."

Chloe took in a deep breath and then turned to him. "I know that you believe in killing the one to save the hundred." Oliver just nodded. "In some ways I agree with that. What if that one is yourself."

"I don't follow." Oliver frowned at her.

"What if sacrificing yourself could save a hundred, a thousand, a million." Chloe asked and Oliver slowly realized where she was going with this. "Would you do it?"

It felt like a punch to the gut and he wanted more than anything to lie to her but he couldn't. "Yes." Oliver tried to keep his voice even.

Chloe let out a long shaky breath. "How?" Chloe asked him. "How do you find the courage to do that?"

"You just do." Oliver said. "You reach down as far as you can, farther than you can and you just do it."

"Yeah." Chloe nodded. She turned back and looked through the door where Victor and AC were talking to Dean and Sam and Bart were slowly piling up items from Amelia's old house. "We've got work to do." Chloe moved to walk out of the kitchen. She swung the door open and Dean turned to look at her.

"Wait." Oliver grabbed her arm and pulled her back into the kitchen and Dean frowned. "You're 100% positive that there's no other way? That the fate of the entire human race is at stake? Because that's the only thing that would stop me from picking you up, dragging you away and locking you in a cell for the rest of your life."

"There's no other way." Chloe said sadly.

Oliver felt his throat tighten. "How do I explain it?" He asked. "To everyone else?"

"I've got it covered." Chloe assured him. He just nodded and they walked out of the kitchen. After they got settled in Amelia put Claire to sleep somehow and then walked out onto the balcony. Chloe followed her out.

"Do you know where we're going yet?" Amelia asked her.

"Do you have a preference?" Chloe leaned against the railing.

"Does it matter?" Amelia turned her. "It seems pointless, knowing what we know, knowing there's so much more out there, something so much bigger than we are. How can the little things matter?" She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered.

Chloe was silent for a minute. "The little things are all that matter." She finally said. "You can't control those big things, they were here long before you arrived and they'll be here long after you're gone. So it's the little things, the things that you can control, they're the only things that matter."

"How can you still believe that?" Amelia asked her. "After everything you've seen. The horror and the demons, the death and the loss?"

"Cause I know what's left in the jar." Chloe smiled at her.

"I don't follow you." Amelia frowned.

"The Greek myth. Pandora's box, well it was really a jar." Chloe said. "Pandora was the first woman. All the Gods had a part in creating her, making her as perfect as they could. They also gave her a jar which contained all the evils of mankind."

"I remember this from grade school." Amelia frowned. "She opened the jar and let it all out and that's where all the evil comes from."

"She didn't let it all out." Chloe shook her head. "When she realized what she'd done she quickly moved to close the jar, to stop them all from spilling out. She wasn't quick enough and in the end there was only one thing left at the bottom of the jar."

"What?" Amelia asked.

"Hope." Chloe said. "I have hope and that's what keeps me going."

They were quiet for a long time and then Amelia spoke. "Someplace sunny." Amelia finally said. "Someplace beautiful. So Claire can see that it's not all darkness. So she can have hope. So maybe someday I can have hope again."

"I can do that." Chloe smiled at the woman.

* * *

Sam stayed with Amelia and Claire as Oliver and the guys followed Chloe and Dean to the Isis Foundation. "I left in a hurry, haven't been paying the bills so they could have changed the locks on me."

"I've been keeping up the bills for you." Oliver told her. "Rent, utilities."

"Thanks." Chloe smiled genially at him and then tripped over something on her way inside. "You couldn't send someone by to check the mail?" Chloe asked from the floor.

Dean helped Chloe stand up then picked up the mail for her. "Things fall through the cracks." Oliver smiled. "But because of me you have water to make coffee so maybe you could say thank you Oliver."

Chloe tapped her foot then smiled. "Thank you Oliver." Chloe dropped the mail on the counter. "Now make yourself useful and start a fresh pot yeah."

"Suddenly I'm the help?" Oliver smiled and filled up the coffee pot with water.

"Bart, food would be nice." Chloe called over her shoulder as she took off her jacket and opened the computer room.

"You got it beautiful." Bart winked at her and flashed out of the room.

"Whoa." Dean stared at the walls Chloe had covered with every spec of information that she could find on Sam and Dean. "Stalker much?" He smirked at her.

"Yeah, I know it looks bad." Chloe bit her lip.

"Looks bad?" Dean laughed and looked through the room. "My whole life is up here."

"Not your whole life." Chloe tried to lighten the situation. "There are a few years in high school that I couldn't find anything on."

Dean wasn't laughing. He'd stopped frozen in the middle of the room and Chloe winced as he pulled two pictures off the wall. "How did you get these?" He laid them on the counter, one of John Winchester in his military uniform and the other John and Mary on their wedding day.

Chloe took the wedding picture and smiled at it. "I found the engagement announcement in the Lawrence Newspaper archives and managed to hunt down the photographer who did their wedding. There aren't a lot of Wedding photographers in Lawrence surprisingly." She said sheepishly. "He was actually using them in his portfolio."

"And the other one?" Dean asked her.

"Your dad's military file." Chloe laid the wedding picture on top of the picture of John.

"How did you get that?" Dean looked at her.

"I had a supercomputer in my brain for six months. I learned a few tricks." Chloe smiled. "Not like I wasn't too shabby with a keyboard before that either." Dean smiled down at the pictures. She opened a drawer and pulled out a file. "He had more, I got all of them from him." She passed Dean the file. "You can have them."

"Thank you." Dean took the file from Chloe and walked over to the couch to flip through them.

"What do you need me to do?" Victor stepped up.

"I need you to find me some social security numbers." Chloe told him.

"On it." Victor sat down at the computer.

"What can I do?" AC asked.

"I need you to get in touch with some of your friends in Key West. See if you can't get a lead on a job for Amelia."

"You're relocating them to Key West?" AC asked.

"She wanted someplace beautiful, someplace Sunny."

"Sounds perfect." AC smiled. "I'm on it." He walked out of the room and started dialing a number.

"Ask around about a realtor too." Chloe called after him.

"What are you going to do?" Oliver frowned.

"I'm going to create two lives from scratch." Chloe said sitting down and cracking her fingers before she started typing.

"And what am I going to do?" Oliver frowned.

"You can…sit there and look pretty until I need some money." Chloe patted his cheek and Oliver laughed, walking over to the couch and sitting next to Dean.

"So." Oliver looked at Dean. "You fight demons."

"Yeah." Dean set the file of pictures on the table. "And you fight meteor enhanced villains."

"Yep." Oliver nodded.

"How is that?" Dean asked. "As far as jobs go?"

"Not bad." Oliver thought about it. "It's got it's perks."

"I know what you mean." Dean smiled at him and the two fell into an easy conversation as Chloe, Victor, and AC worked.

Bart arrived a few minutes later with food and they ate and talked and for a minute Chloe felt like things might get back to normal. Two hours later AC was passed out on the couch as Bart played World of Warcraft on Chloe's big screens and Victor put the finishing touches on the birth certificates. Chloe had finished creating two people from scratch, entire histories for both Amelia and Claire that included school transcripts, past job performance reviews, even an abandoned MySpace page.

"Thank you so much. No I'm sure the online tour was more than sufficient. The house is perfect." Chloe snapped her fingers in Oliver's direction. "Yes just fax the contract over to my office as soon as possible and I'll start the money transfer." She looked around her desktop and found a small squishy stress ball that one of her patients had given her. She picked it up and threw it straight at Oliver. It bounced off his head and he cut off his conversation with Dean in mid sentence to turn and glare at her. "No, thank you." Chloe smiled and hung up the phone.

Oliver picked up the ball and walked over to her desk. He set the ball down in front of her and smiled. "You called?"

"Yes, I need some money." Chloe smiled sweetly at him.

"Oliver Queen to the rescue." He smiled. "Let me call the bank and set up a transfer."

"I've got all the paperwork right here." Chloe passed him a folder.

"You work fast." Dean stood up and walked over to the desk.

"So the initial transfer is for Five hundred which should cover the cost of the house and furnishings." Chloe pointed out. "Depending on how AC's job search turns out we'll only need Fifty to a Hundred after that to get her settled in."

"Thousand?" Dean blanched at the paperwork as Oliver signed each page. "Five hundred thousand?"

"Houses in Key West aren't cheap." Chloe took the papers from Oliver and whistled for Bart. "Take these to Bank for me?" Bart paused his game and sped out of the room with the papers.

"Wait, hold on." Dean shook his head. "She asks you for Five Hundred Thousand dollars and you just say yes?"

"Probably Six Hundred Thousand when we're done." Oliver shrugged. "And she said please."

"No actually I didn't." Chloe walked over to the fax machine and picked up the house contract. "But Please and Thank You."

"You're welcome." Oliver kissed her forehead and walked away.

Dean just stared at Chloe as she forged Amelia's signature on the house contract. "Do you remember when I said that our lives were freakishly similar?" Dean asked her. "I take it all back."

"What?" Chloe stood up. "You mean you don't have a crime fighting billionaire boss who funds your every whim?"

"No." Dean shook his head laughing.

"Huh." Chloe smirked. "I thought everyone had one of those."

"No darling, I'm one of a kind." Oliver smiled at her. Chloe looked between Oliver and Dean.

"You want mine?" She offered. "I'll trade him for Sam."

"You can't just trade me." Oliver protested. "And for Sam?" He looked at Dean. "No offense but I'm worth more than Sam."

"Says you." Chloe walked over and grabbed an envelope, putting the contract in it. She held it out in thin air just as Bart sped back in the room. "Key West, but wait a few hours. She thinks I'm just in Miami."

"No problem." Bart dropped the file on the desk. "I've got a few more hours left on my game."

Chloe sent a pleading look to Oliver who assured her with a nod that he got it. "We're moving out guys." Oliver clapped his hands. Bart groaned and turned his game off as AC and Victor said their goodbyes to Dean.

"Thank you." Chloe smiled and whispered in Oliver's ear as he hugged her.

"You've been awake for what, going on thirty two hours?" Oliver looked down at her. "Get some sleep so you can…" He swallowed hard. "Do what you need to." Chloe felt tears well up in her eyes and tried to hold them back. "Will I uh…will I see you again?"

"Probably not." Chloe shook her head. She held up a hand and walked away, digging for something in her bag and coming out with a handful of envelopes. She stood there for a second and then turned back to Oliver. "I know this is a lot to ask of you, could you get these where they need to go when…when I don't."

"Chloe after everything you've done for me, this is the least I can do." Oliver assured her. "Does Dean know?" Chloe shook her head furiously and Oliver narrowed his eyes. "You're doing this for him aren't you?" Chloe just closed her eyes. She was about to explain herself when Dean walked up.

"Hey." Dean said and Chloe turned around to wipe her eyes. "In case I don't see you again, it was nice to meet you."

"Yeah, you too." Oliver shook his hand. "Look, here is my private number." Oliver handed Dean a card. "In case you ever need me or, you know need a crime fighting billionaire to fund something."

"Yeah, sure." Dean frowned but put the card in his wallet.

"I mean it." Oliver said. "Call me anytime."

"Ok." Dean frowned but nodded. Oliver spared a glance at Chloe who was hugging Bart goodbye then he walked out the door. Dean turned around and frowned at Chloe. "You ok?" He asked.

"Just tired." Chloe assured him. "Let me shut all this down and we can go."

"You want to get a room in town?" Dean asked. "I saw a few motels on the drive in."

"No, I want to go home." Chloe told him. "I just…I want to sleep in my own bed tonight."

"Sure." Dean smiled at her.

* * *

Chloe opened the Talon apartment and dropped her bag on the dining table. "I'm going to jump in the shower, make yourself at home." She walked into the bathroom and turned on the water as Dean looked in the fridge, knowing she'd been gone for a few months but hoping for a beer at least.

"Don't move." A female voice said from behind him. "I've got the cops on speed dial and very large knife."

"Uh…" Dean froze looking in the fridge.

"Stand up." The voice said and Dean obeyed. "Turn around, slowly."

Dean turned around to see a very tall brunette standing in front of him with a cell phone in one hand and an abnormally large butcher knife in the other. "Look, Lady I think there's been a mistake."

"Your damn right there has." She smiled at him. "You were mistaken when you thought you could break into my cousin's apartment."

"You're cousin?" Dean frowned. "You must be Lois."

"Must I?" Lois asked annoyed.

"Well Lucy is in Paris isn't she?" Dean asked.

"How do you know my sisters name?" Lois glared at him.

"Chloe told me." Dean took a step forward and Lois welded the knife menacingly.

"You know Chloe?" She asked skeptically. "Where is she?"

"In the shower." Dean said. "Chloe!" He screamed.

"God, give me a minute." She screamed back.

"I'm not sure I have a minute." Dean screamed back.

The water cut off and Chloe walked out of the bathroom tying the clasp on her robe. "What?" She froze with a smile on her face. "Oh. Lois, put the knife down."

"You sure?" Lois asked her.

"Lois." Chloe glared at her cousin and Lois dropped the knife.

"Where the hell have you been?" Lois turned on her cousin. "You leave three months ago and don't bother to tell anyone."

"Didn't Oliver talk to you?"

"Yeah, he said you were helping him out with something but please, I wasn't born yesterday." Lois put her hands on her hips. "Have you been with him?" She nodded at Dean.

"It's a really long story and I don't want to get into it right now." Chloe said.

"You should have called." Lois seemed to soften a bit.

"I should have." Chloe agreed.

"Well. Whatever." Lois shook her head. "You're back and that's all that matters. Oh, and it's Thursday."

"Lois no, I'm really not in the mood." Chloe shook her head.

"Please, like you have to be in the mood." Lois brushed her off. "I'm not taking no for an answer. You've been gone for three months so I'll meet you downstairs in thirty minutes."

"Fine." Chloe agreed.

"Bring Short Round if you want." Lois nodded to Dean.

"Hey!" Dean protested. "I have a name."

"Not anymore." Chloe laughed as Lois closed the door. "Unfortunately, Lois' nicknames have a way of sticking."

"Short Round?" Dean groaned. "What's Thursday?"

Chloe just smiled at him. Twenty minutes later they were standing on the landing above the Talon looking down at the crowd. "Karaoke?" Dean asked in disbelief.

"Just stay behind me Short Round, step where I step and don't touch anything." Chloe looked over at him and he just glared at her. "That was from Indiana Jones, you know Short Round."

"Yeah I got it." Dean shook his head and walked down the steps.

"Chloe!" Lois screamed up to the landing. "Hey everyone Chloe's back."

"Chloe!" The crowd screamed and Dean turned around to raise his eyebrows to her.

"You come here often then?" Dean asked.

"When you live above a karaoke bar, how can you not participate?" Chloe asked passing him on the stairs.

"Easily." Dean followed her down. "Very easily."

Chloe got off the stage, her face flushed from the rush of her third song that evening. Dean was standing in the back whistling and clapping wildly demanding an encore and she laughed. Her laughter didn't last long and suddenly she felt something behind her and she swallowed before turning around. Castiel was standing in the doorway to the kitchens. He nodded his head and Chloe walked over to him.

Dean frowned as Chloe headed in the opposite direction when she got off the stage and he followed to make sure everything was ok. He didn't get very far, a very drunk Lois draped an arm over his shoulder. "You know Short Round."

"Dean." He said to her, setting her in a chair. "My name is Dean."

"You're not so bad Short Round."

"No, after your fifth Martini, I don't imagine anyone's too bad." Dean smiled at her. "I'm going to go get Chloe."

"I like Chloe." Lois smiled.

"I'm sure you do." Dean smiled and headed for the kitchen.

"What do you want?" Chloe sounded tired, exhausted actually and Dean frowned.

"I want to know what you're doing." Castiel's voice sounded strange and out of place here. "Have you forgotten that you have a job to do?'

"No." Chloe's voice turned steely. "I haven't forgotten. The problem is I've been a bit busy the past twenty four hours cleaning up your mess."

Dean smiled slightly, egging her on, not like Cass can't take it. "You look as if you're working really hard."

Dean winced. "I wanted a day." Chloe's voice started shaking. "One day. I don't know how this things going to play out. I don't know if I'll ever see Lois again. I just wanted a day." They were both quite and Dean suddenly realized how much Chloe had given up basically for him. "I know what I have to do Cas, I really don't need you to remind me."

There wasn't a response and Dean peaked around the corner to see Chloe standing by herself. Castiel had gone as quickly as he came. "Chloe?" She turned around and smiled at him. "Looks like it's dying down out there. Why don't you head up to the apartment."

"Lois." Chloe said suddenly. "I need to get her home."

"I'll put her in a cab." Dean assured her. "You just head upstairs ok?"

"Yeah." Chloe nodded. "Thanks." She walked past Dean and headed up the stairs as he grabbed Lois and put her in a cab then headed up to the apartment. Chloe was just sitting on the edge of her bed and though he knew she was tired he couldn't help but ask what had been on his mind.

"Six months ago, if you knew everything you know now, would you still have come?" Dean asked her. "Would you still have looked for me? Come to me?"

Chloe looked over at Dean and smiled. "Yes." She said truthfully.

"Even with the fighting and the death?" Dean swallowed hard, not sure if he wanted her answer. "And the pain."

"If someone had told me that just to get to you I'd have to walk over three thousand miles of broken glass, I would have done it." Chloe told him. "Just to get to you, to save you."

"Why?" Dean whispered and walked over to her bed. "Why go through all the trouble? All the pain? For me?" He sat down.

Chloe brought a hand up to his cheek and wiped away his tears. "Because you're worth it." Chloe told him and suddenly she meant it. She meant it with everything last inch of herself, body and soul. She knew that deep down as altruistic as she wanted to be, she wasn't going to sacrifice herself to save the world, she couldn't she wasn't that brave. No, when it came down to it, she was going to sacrifice herself to save Dean. Because he was worth it. Because he deserved it. Because she loved him. She seemed to lose her breath for a second as the truth of that statement fell down upon her and she gasped. She loved him and she knew, she knew what to do to save him.

"Chloe?" Dean asked her concerned.

"Do you trust me?" Chloe tilted her head to look at him.

"Of course I do." Dean assured her. "Why do you ask?"

"I need to know." Chloe smiled. "I need to know that you trust me."

"Chloe what's going on?" Dean frowned.

"If I asked you not to look back, would you do it?"

"I really don't like where this conversation is heading." Dean tried to back away and Chloe grabbed his face.

"Would you look back Dean?" She pleaded with him to tell her the truth. "Would you look back or would you trust me?"

"I would trust you." Dean said. "I wouldn't look back."

Chloe smiled bright, brighter than he'd ever seen her smile before, and Dean thought if he could just see that smile everyday for the rest of his life, he'd be a happy guy. But then he experienced something infinitely better than her smile when she leaned forward and kissed him.


	7. Ariadne Part One

Dean was all tongue and teeth, flesh and sweat, and Chloe couldn't get enough of him. She was sure if she lived to be nine hundred she'd never get enough of him. But she wasn't going to live to be nine hundred so she had to take what she could get, while she could get it. "Slow down." Dean chuckled in her ear as he kissed along her jaw line. "We've got time."

But they didn't. They didn't have time. She wanted to tell him that. She wanted to say that they only had tonight. She wanted to tell him that this time tomorrow she would be gone but she couldn't. That would be like saying goodbye and she couldn't do that, not yet, not now, not while he was doing that thing with his tongue. She took a deep breath, then another, then another and forced herself to slow down. Any other time she'd go for fast and furious, she'd go for a half clothed fuck up against the bathroom door. She'd had more than her fair share of dreams and fantasies involving that exact scenario, one that was embarrassingly enough interrupted by Castiel before she could finish.

Tonight was different. Tonight had to be different. She needed it to be intense; she needed it to be overwhelming, she needed it to be so mind blowing that Dean let his guard down. She needed him to tear down the wall he'd spent the last forty years in hell building, brick by brick so that she could reach in there and build everything back up. So she slowed it down, she took her time. She let her fingertips explore every inch of him, every ripple of muscles, and every wrinkle of skin. Where her fingers couldn't get to, her mouth took up the slack. She wanted, no she needed to memorize him.

* * *

Chloe was all gentle kisses and soft caresses, she smelled like vanilla and tasted like chocolate and she was driving Dean crazy. He'd wanted her to slow down because she was killing him with her urgency, torturing him with her need. Only now that she'd slowed, now that she was taking her time, it was worse. She was still killing him, only now she was doing it oh so slowly. Every touch of her skin against his burned like a lake of fire. Her lips blazed a trail of discovery, as if she was the first and only person to see that spot, to touch that spot, to taste that spot. At this moment for all Dean knew, she was the first and only because her breath against his neck blew out every other woman he'd ever known from his head.

Dean was certain that there was something he was missing; something else was happening here, something he wasn't sure either of them could define even if they had a lifetime. Something he wasn't sure anyone could ever define even if they had ten thousand lifetimes. That scared him. It scared him so much that he wanted to run away, he wanted to walk out that door and not look back until he was halfway around the world, but then he'd be away from her, away from her touch and he knew that he wasn't that scared. He had the strangest feeling that as long as she was near him, he'd never be scared again.

Their eyes met and locked and in that moment there was no apocalypse, there were no seals, no demons, no angels. Somewhere in the world there were people going about their day. Somewhere in the country there were people dying and people being born. Somewhere in the city there was a cab taking Lois home. Downstairs there was a coffee shop full of drunken people closing for the night. But in that room, in that bed, there was only Chloe and Dean and as far as they were concerned the rest of the world had disappeared. There they stayed, incased in a bubble, a universe of two people.

Dean wanted to look away, he wanted to close his eyes and never open them again. In Chloe's eyes he'd seen his future, he'd seen the life he could have, the life she could give him. He'd seen a house; he'd seen a yard that needed mowing, a car that needed washing. He'd seen birthdays and Christmas' and Sam coming over for Thanksgiving. He'd seen a wedding, Chloe in the white dress, him in the tux. "I, Dean Winchester, take this woman..." He saw kids and grandkids and he and Chloe terrorizing nurses together when they ninety. "Til death do us part."

* * *

It was done, Dean was healed and Chloe…Chloe was in so much pain. She wanted to scream out, she wanted to cry but she couldn't. This pain was what Dean had been carrying around with him since he got back, every second of every day, this is what he felt. Chloe wanted to tell him that she loved him but somehow that felt wrong. It felt cruel and unusual to say that to him knowing that in a few hours time, she'd be gone and he be alone with nothing but the weight of her confession. She didn't go through all the trouble of healing him only to break him again. Even now she could feel it happening, feel herself slipping away but she knew it wouldn't be quick, she wasn't that lucky. Without the benefit of a gapping stab or gunshot wound that would bleed out in time, stopping her heart, it was going to take a while for this to kill her.

They lay on the bed, unable to speak, unable to move, unable to do anything in the afterglow except breathe. Dean clenched his arm and pulled Chloe closer to him, he couldn't get her close enough, she'd never be close enough. Her head rested on his chest, rising and falling with his breathing and he wanted to say something to her, needed to say something to her, but he couldn't. Words seemed primitive, sentences trivial, what could he say that would come close to what they'd just done. So they lay there in a silence that weighed down on the both of them, heavy with words unspoken, suffocating them with secrets withheld. They lay there awake, aware the other was awake, both pretending to sleep, until the past few days caught up with them and they weren't pretending anymore.

Chloe's eyes shot open as the pain suddenly intensified, waking her from a deep sleep. She reluctantly untangled herself from Dean's embrace and leaned over the nightstand. She pulled out a piece of paper and grabbed a pen, stealing herself to write the one letter she'd been putting off writing since she knew what she had to do.

Clark's letter was three pages, Lois' five and Oliver's ten, granted six of the pages were instructions on how to work her equipment and passwords for her computer. She'd laid quite a bit of responsibility on him as far as the JLA and the Isis Foundation went, but she knew out of everyone he could handle it. It seemed disproportionate considering all the things she wanted to say but Dean's letter was only three words. All she could say, all she needed to say was said in those three words.

"Chloe?" Dean was sitting up in the bed frowning at her. "Come back to bed."

"I'm coming." Chloe assured him as she folded the paper up and wrote his name on the outside. She put it back in the drawer and lay back next to Dean, fitting so perfectly against his side that it was like she was made to go there. Dean wrapped his arm around her and kissed her forehead as she closed her eyes.

When they woke again the sun was shining through the windows and Dean was pressed up against her back, not a millimeter of space between their bodies. His head nuzzled in her neck and he smiled as he took a deep breath. "Ok, I can see how one could develop a coffee habit living here." He took another deep breath and let the aroma of freshly brewed coffee waft up from the Talon.

"It's like an alcoholic living at a vineyard." She agreed flipping over so she could see him. "Morning."

"Morning." Dean smiled down at her and kissed her softly. "I don't know about you but I'm starving."

"Famished." She nodded at him.

Dean climbed out of the bed and grabbed his pants and shirt, pulling them on as he walked to the door. "I'll go grab some coffee and we can make a plan for the day."

"Sounds great." Chloe sat up and smiled.

Dean stopped at the door, walked back to the bed and kissed her again. "Almond mocha with extra whipped cream right?" She nodded and he walked out the apartment.

Chloe took a deep breath and tried to stand, heading for the bathroom. She never made it though; the edge of the bed was the farthest she got before she had to stop. She could barely breathe and her muscles were nothing more than rubber. "You don't have much longer." Chloe lifted her head to see Castiel crouched beside the bed.

"I know." She panted out. "In the drawer." She told him. "There's a letter for Dean." She swallowed hard. "Make sure he gets it." Castiel just nodded and Chloe stared at him quizzically. "Are you crying?" She asked confused.

Castiel brought a hand up to his cheek and when his fingers came away wet he frowned. He reached out a hand to brush the hair from Chloe's face. "Your life matters." Castiel told her and she smiled, reaching for his hand and gripping it like a lifeline. His Angel was dying and for all his powers, all his strength, he could only sit and watch, he could only take her hand and give her some comfort.

"Will you pray for me?" Chloe asked him weakly.

"Every day." Castiel assured her as her head fell to the side, her eyes closing, and the grip she had on Castiel's hand going slack. He laid her hand on her chest and backed away as, unable to stop as he wept for Chloe Sullivan.

* * *

Dean inched open the door with his hip and dropped his keys on the counter. "Ok, having a coffee shop right under your apartment is awesome." Dean smiled. "And when I said they were for you, I wasn't even charged." He closed the door with his foot. "Oh, I also got blueberry crumble muffins, Sheila said they were your favorite and they were fresh from the oven." Dean frowned when she said nothing. "Chloe?" He walked into the bedroom. She'd fallen back to sleep so he crept up to the side of the bed and laid the coffee on the nightstand. "Chloe, wake up." Dean sat on the edge of the bed and opened the coffee cup, hoping the scent would wake her but it didn't. He frowned confused. Chloe's woken up at the motel when coffee was brewed four rooms down from them.

"Chloe?" Dean asked slightly scared bringing a hand to her neck. There was a pulse but she wasn't responding to him. "Chloe?" His throat tightened and he dropped the coffee on the floor crawling closer to her. "Chloe wake up." Dean reached forward and pulled her to him.

"Dean." A voice said from over his shoulder and refused to turn around. Refused to acknowledge this intrusion upon his grief. "Dean you need to let her go now."

"No." Dean said.

Castiel stepped forward and laid a hand on Dean's shoulder. Dean violently shrugged it off. "She won't wake up."

"What happened to her?" Dean turned to the Angel, pure anger rolling off him in waves. "Why isn't she waking up?"

"She's dying." Castiel said. "She's dying very slowly and there's nothing you can do to stop it."

"Like hell." Dean grabbed Castiel by his collar and slammed him against the wall. "You fix her, give me some Angel magic, show me a miracle."

"I can't." Castiel told him and Dean backed away. Something was different, something was wrong. The always stoic Angel seemed disheveled and out of control. His eyes were puffy, his nose was red, he'd been crying, he'd been crying for Chloe.

"No." Dean backed away. "No." If Cas was crying, there really was nothing he could do. "You knew this was going to happen?" Dean sat back on the edge of the bed.

"Yes." Castiel looked over at Chloe and frowned.

"Does this have anything to do with the fact that I had the best night's sleep I'd ever had in my life last night?" Dean asked. "That I feel better than I have been since I came back from hell?"

"She healed you." Castiel explained. "So you could do what you had to do."

"So I could…" Dean laughed bitterly. "You need to leave."

"She wanted…"

"You need to leave." Dean snapped at him and Castiel just nodded. He reached into the nightstand and pulled out a piece of paper.

"She wanted you to have this." Castiel dropped the paper on the bed and then he was gone.

Dean picked up the note and stared at it for a minute. It took him a few tries but he finally managed to get it open, taking a deep breath before reading it.

_Don't look back._

She wanted him to trust her, to trust that she knew what she was doing. She was telling him to move on, to forget about her and let her die because she had a plan. She knew that there was no time for him to fly off the handle, to veer off his entire life on a crusade to bring her back. There were seals to stop, demons to kill, a world to save. Every inch of him wanted to ignore her, wanted to call up every contact, cash in every favor and bring her back to him. But he wouldn't. He would do as she asked, he would keep going, he would not look back. But he would do all that later, because right now he hurt so badly that he couldn't breathe.

He sat on the edge of the bed, pulling Chloe's head into his lap as he stroked her hair. Every now and then for a few seconds he could convince himself that she was sleeping, those were most glorious seconds of his life. His phone rang and Chloe's phone rang but still he never moved. He could hear the people moving down stairs, he could hear traffic on the street down below, he could see the sun move in its quest across the sky but still he never moved. It wasn't until there was a knock at the door that he moved. He gently moved Chloe's head to a pillow and walked aimlessly toward the door. When he opened it, it seemed strange to see Sam standing there. "Dean?" Sam pushed past him. "Why haven't you been answering your phone?"

"Sammy…" Dean's voice was so low that Sam didn't even hear him.

"I've been calling you all day." He sat down on Chloe's couch. "I got Chloe's address from Victor. Thos guys are insane. They've already got Amelia and Claire's house set up. Furniture, security, Victor even got Bart to run down there and draw in Devil's Traps.

"Sammy." Dean said again.

"I just saw them off at the airport, on Oliver's private jet. They wanted to say goodbye to you and Chloe but you didn't answer your phone."

"Sam." Dean snapped and Sam frowned.

"Dean?" Sam stood up. "Where's Chloe?" Dean turned and motioned to the bedroom. "She's still sleeping?" Sam walked over to the bed slowly.

"No." Dean shook his head. "She's not sleeping."

"She's not…what's going on then?" Sam sat on the edge of the bed.

"She's dying." Dean whispered and Sam snapped his head up to Dean's.

"Do something." Sam jumped up. "Call an ambulance, call Cas."

"There's nothing he can do. There's nothing anyone can do." Dean shook his head. Sam sighed, the whole situation slightly surreal to him.

"I don't understand."

"She healed me." Dean said. "She healed parts of me I didn't know were broken and because of that…"

"What do we do?" Sam asked confused.

"I don't know." Dean closed his eyes.

"Do we…do we bury her?" He scratched his head. "Will she come back?"

"I don't know Sammy." Dean snapped at his brother. Sam took the hint and shut his mouth, leaving Dean to his grief. He looked down at the paper in his hands, reading it over and over again before slipping it in his wallet. He paused when he caught sight of Oliver's business card and grabbed his phone off the side table. He dialed the number and waited until Oliver answered confused. The phone number not being one he recognized.

"Hello?" Oliver asked wearily.

"Hey, Oliver, it's uh, Dean Winchester. Look, I didn't know who else to call…"

"Is she dead?" Oliver asked quietly.

Dean closed his eyes and pushed his anger down. Oliver had known, Castiel had known, for a second he felt like an idiot, like everyone in the world had known before him. "Not yet but she's…"

"Dying?" Oliver offered.

"Yeah." Dean coughed. "I can't just leave her here. I don't want Lois to walk in and find her." Dean cut off, Lois, how was he going to tell Lois, how was he going to tell Clark or Bart.

"It's ok." Oliver told him calmly. "I've got a place ready in Star City." Dean relaxed slightly. "And don't worry about Lois or anyone else. I've got that under control."

"Great."

"As soon as the jet lands in Key West I'll send it over to you." Dean nodded and frowned, wondering how he was going get Chloe from the bed to the plane. He didn't want to put her in a body bag, she was dead yet, he didn't want to put her on gurney because that would spread through the small town before he made it to the bottom of the steps. For one second he had a horrifying image of him and Sam supporting Chloe in between themselves, A pair of sunglasses on her face as they walked her out of the Talon, Weekend at Bernie's style. "I'll send someone to bring her to the hanger."

"Ok." Dean nodded relieved. "Thanks."

Dean and Sam sat at Chloe's kitchen table in complete silence for a little over an hour. When there was a knock at the door Sam stood up to get it so Dean didn't have to. He opened the door and let Victor and Bart in the room. Bart walked over the bed and scooped Chloe up in his arms. The movement was so slow and careful for the man that Dean had only seen going a constant million miles an hour that it seemed strange. Bart turned slowly, nodded at Victor then stopped in front of Dean.

"Are you worth it?" He asked.

"Impulse." Victor scolded him.

"Are you worth it?" Bart pressed on. "Is your life worth hers?"

"I'll make damn sure it is, if it's the last thing I do." Dean assured him.

Bart nodded and then sped out of the room and he and Chloe were gone. "Do you guys want to come on to Star City?" Victor asked. "There's more than enough room on the plane."

Sam was about to accept the offer when Dean cut him off. "No, we've got somewhere we need to be."

Victor and Sam both frowned at him but Victor nodded and walked out of the apartment. "Where do we have to be that's so important?" Sam asked but Dean ignored him and gathered his things. He threw away the food and coffee from that morning and grabbed the trash bag as he walked to the door. He locked it, turned around and walked away without looking back. "Dean." Sam glared at him as he tossed the trash in the dumpster and climbed in the car. "Dean are you going to talk to me?"

"No." Dean shook his head. Sam sighed and got in the car as Dean sped off.

* * *

Sam had no idea why they were there, what Dean hoped to accomplish by this visit but he stood there beside his brother and thought if this could help then he would do it. It took two days to get there, and if Dean was willing to waste two days right now, Sam was going to trust him. The door opened before either of them could knock but neither were surprised. "I've been expecting you." Chuck smiled at the brothers. "I've been waiting to say that for a while now." He said then frowned, remembering why they were there. "Come on in."

Dean pushed past him into the house and noticed that it seemed cleaner. There were less empty bottles of booze lying around and more sunlight shining through the windows. "What's going to happen to her?" Dean asked Chuck.

"I don't know." Chuck told him.

"You don't know?" Dean glared at him. "You're the freaking prophet, what's going to happen to her."

"You don't understand." Chuck sat down. "I don't know. I can't see her."

Sam frowned at this and walked forward. "What does that mean?"

"It means I can't see her, I can't see her future, I can only see her past." Chuck told them. "I only see what happens to her after it's happened. It's like she's not on my radar."

"How can that be?" Dean asked.

"I don't know." Chuck glared. "This thing didn't come with a manual. All I know is that when she showed up I was surprised. I'm never surprised. When she was with you guys, I couldn't see any further than an hour into the future."

"And now that she's gone?" Sam asked.

"I can see everything again." Chuck told them. "But not about her. I can still only see the stuff that's already happened." Dean opened his mouth and Chuck held up his hand. "Please don't ask me what you're going to ask me." Chuck told him. "Trust me Dean, don't ask."

"I have to." Dean said apologetically. "What's happened to her, since she…" Chuck just shook his head. "Look, if you knew I was going to ask, you knew eventually you were going to show me."

Chuck sighed and grabbed some pages from the table and passed them to Dean. He sat down to read and Chuck grabbed a bottle of scotch off the table and opened it up, taking a long sip.

_Chloe was nowhere. She remembered Dean telling her once that you couldn't be nowhere that everyone was somewhere but she knew that wasn't true. All the times she'd died, all the times she'd come here, she still didn't have a name for it, she just knew she was nowhere. She was surrounded on all sides by nothingness which was heavy in its own way. _

_The last time she'd been here, when she was healing Castiel it had looked different, like a grand cathedral. There had been an alter at the front with the most beautiful stained glass window and behind it, endless rows of pews. She'd assumed at the time that it was heaven, or at least Castiel's version of heaven. Angel's didn't have a lot of things to do so Chloe spent most of her time in the Cathedral. Every now and then they left and went somewhere else, somewhere on earth, with other Angel's or with Sam and Dean. It didn't take her long to realize that she was reliving Castiel's life, not the whole thing, just moments that mattered, moments that meant something to Castiel. She relived these moments and felt everything he felt. _

_With Dean it was different. Chloe started with Dean's earliest memory, his mom and Dad tucking him into bed at night, kissing him and saying their prayers. "Angels are watching over you." Mary would whisper in his ear before walking out. _

_Then it was John and Mary telling Dean that he was going to be a big brother and the pride he felt at that, but also the fear. The first bit of pain, real pain in Dean's life was Mary's death. He was so young and Chloe wasn't expecting it, so the only thing that saved her was that it was the pain of a child. A child can understand death but doesn't really feel it, not right away, not until later when they understand all the implications of it. _

_She went through Dean's life pretty quickly. The loss of his mother was followed by the loss of his childhood. The day he learned that there was something to fear under the bed, there was a monster in his closet. The first time he'd killed, at the ripe old age of eleven. The time he let down his father, almost got Sam killed and the renewed determination to take care of his brother, no matter the cost. His first solo hunt, the first time he almost died, the first time he fell in love, Sam leaving for college and then John disappearing. _

_The hits just kept coming but they were all just minor pinches compared to the sickening blow she received when John died. It wasn't just John's death which in and of itself took out Dean's legs from under him, but the knowledge that he died to save his son. Chloe spared a small wince because she'd done the exact same thing to him, and if her death caused Dean even a fraction of the pain he'd felt when John died, she would be eternally sorry. _

_Emotions flew at her after that. Learning that Sam was destined to lead a demon army, worrying constantly about his growing powers, wondering if one day he really would have to kill his brother. Then came Sam's death and that was like John times ten. It was eased only slightly when Dean gave up his own soul to bring his brother back. The initial rush of relief when he realized that he only had a year to live followed by the horrifying emptiness when he finally understood that he only had a year to live finally followed by acceptance that he was going to die, only to be overpowered by the fear of leaving Sam alone to cope for himself._

_They rushed at Chloe, so many emotions, chewing her up and spitting her out only to start the whole thing over again. When Dean died she felt a slight moment of relief, but then came the sharp taste of her own fear when she realized what was coming next. Dean had died, so he was going to hell, so Chloe was going to hell. She barely had time to breathe before he was there, and then she feared she would never breathe again. _

"No." Dean stood up. "She can't do it." He threw the papers at Chuck, fury in his eyes. "I won't let her."

"You have no choice." Castiel said from behind them.

"I almost didn't survive that Cas, there's no way that she will." Dean told him.

"I know." Cas said. "She's not coming back this time, you knew that."

"No." Dean shook his head. He wouldn't accept it, he couldn't accept it. He'd seen her dead for a whole week and come back to life and even though Cas told him back in Smallville, even though Chloe seemed to believe herself that this was it, Dean still refused to believe it, not until now.

Dean took a deep breath then reached down, grabbed the edge of Chuck's table and flipped it over, sending everything crashing to the ground. Sam and Castiel jumped but Chuck only stood up and stepped to the side as Dean grabbed a broken table leg and smashed it into the china cabinet behind him. "Dean." Sam shook off his surprise and moved forward to stop him but Chuck grabbed Sam's arm and pulled him back.

"Just give him a second." Chuck said. "And duck."

Sam frowned then turned to Dean only to see a vase flying straight for his head. Sam ducked at the last second and the vase smashed into the wall behind him. Dean destroyed anything else he could get his hands on in Chuck's living room before he was out of breath as Chuck explained exactly what it was that Chloe had done for Dean, was doing for Dean and for a minute; Sam had the urge to smash something too. "Dean." Castiel snapped him out of his stupor with just one word.

"What?" Dean asked. "You want to tell me there's a job to do? You want to tell me to make sure she didn't die in vain. You want to tell me any number of ridiculous clichés that won't do a damn thing to make me feel better but will probably just piss me off even more?"

"No." Castiel said. "Just this. You want to go kill something?" Castiel offered him and Dean smiled slightly.

"What did you have in mind?" He asked.

* * *

Chloe felt a piercing pain in her side. This she was not prepared for, this was not what she expected. She relived Dean's life, not in his place, but at his side, feeling what he felt but not doing what he did. Only here, in hell, the rules were different. Chloe wasn't simply by his side, watching as he was tortured, but she was Dean. She was physically up on the rack in Dean's place, she was getting a hot poker shoved in her side by Alistair, she was being tortured. Tears mixed with dirt and blood and streaked down her face as the pain never stopped, never paused, never slowed. Another sharp pain and she closed her eyes, refusing to cry out, refusing to give Alistair the satisfaction.

Chloe's eyes opened when she felt a wet cloth on her forehead instead of another hot poker. She blinked for a few seconds before her eyes adjusted to the light. "There you are." A smiling face encroached in her vision, a blonde, unfamiliar. "Don't speak, you don't exactly have a throat at the moment, but we're working on that. It'll grow back."

Chloe forced her eyes closed remembering, remembering the look on Alistair's face, that demented smile of his, as he reached in bare handed and pulled out her throat. Dean's throat Chloe reminded herself Dean's not hers. She hadn't actually been there, she was just re-living what he'd been through and at some point he'd had his throat torn out.

Apparently without a throat you can still cry so she did. Huge, fat, silent tears fell from her eyes and down her cheeks as she cried for herself, as she cried for Dean. "I know sweetie, I know." The woman said to her wiping the tears even as more followed in their wake. "We took you out of there, but not really. We're not sure how long it's going to last." Chloe tried to let loose a scream but to no avail since she had no vocal cords. "I'm afraid there's nothing we can do about the pain." The wet washcloth was put back on her forehead and the woman smiled at her sadly then looked away. "You'll have to go back in a minute. I'm sorry, so sorry, but we'll bring you back here, as soon as we can. I promise."

Chloe tried to nod but she wasn't sure she managed it. "You should rest, while you have a chance." The woman had tears in her eyes. "Sleep now ok?" Chloe closed her eyes and slept.

It wasn't a peaceful warm washcloth that woke her the second time. It was her arm this time, only Alistair wasn't putting anything in it, he was pulling it out of her socket. The scream that tore from her let her know she did in fact have her throat back and she panted. "There you are." Alistair smirked dropping her arm to the ground. "I thought I'd lost you for second."

Chloe frowned. She had been gone for a second hadn't she? Gone away from this place. Maybe it had been a dream, something she created to fool herself, to give herself one second of peace, one second of respite from the torture. "I'm not going anywhere." Chloe managed to say through clenched teeth.

"Good, cause we were just getting to the good stuff." Alistair reached down and picked up what looked like a dull spoon.

* * *

Oliver stared at the monitor in front of him that had his schedule for the day but his eyes kept drifting over to the other monitor on his desk. The one that gave him a real time update of all of Chloe's vital stats. Every now and then the line that monitored Chloe's brain activity would jump and he would immediately hit the speed dial on his phone. The nurses had taken to keeping someone sitting in her room just so they could tell him that it was either a fluke or a vivid dream.

"No, where the hell is he?" Lois' shrill voice knocked Oliver back to the present. He'd been expecting this, ever since he put a stamp on the envelope Chloe had given him he'd been dreading the moment that Lois walked through his door. He'd read his own letter from Chloe a hundred times and the list of things she needed from him, he was more than happy to do each and every one of them.

Taking care of the Isis Foundation was easy; keeping an eye on her clients was no problems. What he wasn't prepared for, what he wasn't sure he could do for Chloe was explain things to Lois. Because explaining things to Lois would force him to face the fact that Chloe wasn't coming back. He turned off his computer as Lois over powered his secretary and stormed through the door, slamming her letter on the desk in front of him. "What the hell is this?" She glared at him.

"Lois." Oliver motioned for her to sit and she did.

"Oliver, tell me you can explain this to me." Lois pleaded with him.

Oliver wished in that moment that he could lie to her, that he could tell her Chloe was off in Mogadishu doing some charity computer thing for him. Hell, he even wished he could tell her that she was off with Sam and Dean, battling Demons on behalf of Angels, that she was out saving the world. "How much do you know?" Oliver asked carefully.

"I know that she left me some note that sounds like an, "If you're reading this, it means I'm dead" and that can't be right because…" The words caught in Lois' throat.

"Do you know about her power?" Oliver leaned forward.

"Her what?" Lois frowned.

Oliver sighed. He'd have to start at the beginning. "You know about the Meteor Rocks right?" Lois nodded and Oliver launched into an explanation, introducing Lois to the secret life her cousin had been leading for the past three years.

* * *

Chloe gasped herself awake, sitting straight up in the bed and looking around confused. How did she get in a bed? "Where am I?" Chloe asked. "What's going on?"

"Calm down." A familiar looking blonde, different from before, walked in the room. "You need your rest."

"Screw rest I want to know what the hell is going on here?" Chloe stood up and looked around only to stumble as blood poured out of her chest and pain exploded, making her gasp.

"We can't stop the pain." The woman helped her sit back down on the bed. "Remember? Just the scenery."

Chloe looked around. She wasn't in a room so much as she was in a space, a vast white space of nothing. Just her, a bed, and the blonde woman.

"It's complicated." She smiled.

"Let's start with something easier then." Chloe breathed out. "Who are you?"

"Mary." She walked over to the bed and sat down next to Chloe.

"Mary?" Chloe looked at her confused and then fell to the mattress as she connected the pieces. "Mary Winchester?" Chloe looked at her more closely. She looked almost exactly like she had in her wedding picture. "I don't understand."

"We're just trying to help you sweetie." She brought a hand to Chloe's cheek and the sudden contact dredged up a memory, Dean's memory, of Mary tucking him into bed at night.

"You said your prayers." Chloe whispered. "Every night you, John, and Dean prayed together. You told him Angels were watching over him."

"I remember." Mary smiled.

"The night you died." Chloe turned to her. "Dean wanted to pray and John, John said no. He said they wouldn't pray anymore. He said there was nothing left worth praying for."

"I was wrong." A voice said from behind her. Chloe turned to see another familiar face.

"John?"

"Yeah." He smiled and walked further in the room, standing next to Mary and putting a hand on her shoulder. Seeing them, the two of them together, smiling at each other Chloe felt something else. A long forgotten longing of Dean's buried deep inside to see his parents together again. It was too much for her and she had to look away. After everything she'd been through, after everything she'd felt this is what hurt her the most.

"Sweetie?" Mary stood up and put a hand on her shoulder.

Chloe wiped her tears and quickly turned around. "I'm fine." She smiled. "It's silly really."

"It's not." Mary leaned forward, hugged her and Chloe cried harder. No matter how old you got, sometimes the only thing that could make it all better is a hug from your mom. Dean would never admit it but he'd wanted one of these for twenty five years. Chloe clutched to Mary like she was his lifeline, clutched to Dean's memory of her and when she realized that Mary smelled exactly the way Dean remembered her smelling Chloe smiled. The moment was ruined when what felt like a whip slammed into her back. She pulled away in surprised and winced in pain.

John was kneeling in front of her in seconds. "Breath through the pain." He forced her to look in his eyes, focus only on his eyes. "It'll stop, I swear at some point it'll stop."

Chloe nodded staring in John's eyes remembering that he'd been through this too and he was right. It didn't stop exactly but she was able to work through the pain, to control it instead of letting it control her. "I don't understand. I don't understand why I'm here, where here is."

"It's nowhere." John explained moving to sit down next to her. "We aren't really anywhere."

Chloe looked over at him and smiled. "Thanks." She laughed. "That clears up so much."

John laughed too and smiled. "When you heal someone, this is where you come." John looked around. "It's not heaven, it's not hell. Not life, not death. It's a limbo of sorts."

"Ok." Chloe nodded, that made sense. "But what are you doing here? What am I doing here?" She looked around. "Last I remember I was having my intestines removed one dull spoonful at a time. Why am I not having my intestines removed one spoonful at a time?"

"You were right." Mary said wiping the hair out of her face. "When you told Castiel that it would kill you. That living Dean's life, Dean's pain, would kill you." She looked over at John.

"We decided that we weren't going to let that happen." Pamela appeared in the room smiling at Chloe. "Like I said I always pay my debts."

"You did this?" Chloe smiled at her.

"It's some serious magic's by the way." Pamela said. "Not something just anyone could do if you know what I mean."

* * *

Lois stood in front of the door and just stared at it. Oliver had explained everything to her, everything. From Chloe's dying and coming back to life, to her working for Oliver with the Green Arrow, to Short Round or rather Dean and his brother Sam and their quest. Oliver told her about the Angels and the Demons and Chloe's role in the whole thing. Then he'd brought her across town to a building called JL Industries. Everyone greeted Oliver with a "Good Afternoon Mr. Queen" as he led her up an elevator, through a multitude of corridors.

Suddenly plush carpeted floors and mahogany paneled walls gave way to sterile tile and beeping monitors. It was like one second they were in an office building and the next they were in a hospital. "I had this place made to cater to the meteor infected. There aren't many doctors that know how to handle their unique physiology." Oliver had explained to her.

He led her past doctors and nurses and patients and they stopped at a door. This door didn't have a small plaque with a room number on it; it had a medium sized plaque with Chloe's name on it. "She has her own room?" Lois asked wondering just how many times her cousin had died. So here she was staring at the door to Chloe's room, on the other side of which was her comatose cousin, balancing precariously on the ledge between life and death.

"You want to go in yet?" Oliver asked from behind her.

"No." Lois shook her head. She'd been out there for almost an hour now. "Not yet." She sighed and looked at all the signs and stickers that had been used to decorate the door. She reached out and touched the largest one that said, "Enter without coffee at your own risk" and she smiled. "Ok." She turned to Oliver. "I'm ready." Oliver smiled and stood up straighter but Lois didn't move. "I'm going to need you to actually open the door and then push me in there."

Oliver stepped forward, doing like she asked.

* * *

Chloe had lost track of time, she'd basically lost track of the concept of time and space, of life and death, of good and bad. She just wanted the pain to stop; she just wanted everything to be over with. "Chloe!" John screamed at her and she tried to ignore it. Someone else was whispering in her ear, tempting her, telling her if she just stopped, if she just gave in and let go everything would be alright. "Damn it Chloe, you're not giving up on me, I won't let you." She tried to wave the harsh voice away, because she really wanted to hear more from the soft soothing voice. "You are not a quitting, you are not a quitter."

"I am." Chloe moaned. "I am a quitter. Let me quit." She begged.

"No." A familiar voice snapped her out of it and she opened her eyes.

"Castiel?" She said, her lips dry and cracked, her voice hoarse.

"No." He smiled at her and brought a cup to her lips. "It's Jimmy Novak."

"Jimmy." Chloe smiled at him. "What are you doing here?"

"Making sure you're ok." He assured her. "Like you made sure my family was ok."

"I didn't do anything." Chloe shook her head. "I can't feel my legs." She frowned suddenly.

"Don't look down." John said from over her shoulder. "Trust me sweetie."

Chloe nodded numbly as Jimmy told her stories about when he was first married to Amelia, when they first had Claire and it took her away from the pain for a while longer until he had to go, like all the others had to go. Chloe frowned as John took his place next to the bed. "Why do people keep leaving?" Chloe frowned at John as he took over wiping her forehead. "Who are all these people anyway?"

"Friends." Mary told her.

People she didn't know had been coming and going since she got there. Before Jimmy there was a somewhat chubby guy with curly hair, telling her stories of Maindroids which were apparently humanoid robots. Then there was an older black man, a cop based on the stories he told Chloe, a beautiful brunette who tried to cheer her up but seemed slightly haunted herself and kept asking about Sam. Another brunette who seemed to want to be anywhere but there, but regaled Chloe with stories of all the money to be made stealing and selling magical artifacts.

There were two more blondes, one with longer hair who spent the whole time praying for Chloe and the other with a short cropped do who spent more time apologizing to John than talking to Chloe but who managed to distract her none the less. Then there was by far the most entertaining, a skinny guy with a mullet who showed up with a large whiteboard and proceeded to explain the technical workings of her powers until he lost focus and started telling her a story about a crazy night he had in Vegas with three strippers who turned out to be Sirens.

They came and went along with many others, though those were the most frequent visitors. Sometime they stayed minutes, sometimes days, or what seemed like minutes and days to Chloe, she couldn't be sure. The last time she asked John told her she'd only been there for fifteen years hell time, which roughly translated to a month and a half real time. The only constants that she saw were John and Mary, ever vigilant, never leaving her side, along with Pamela and the blonde girl that had talked to her the first time.

"I've never met those people before in my life." Chloe shook her head.

"They're friends of Dean." John said.

Chloe frowned. The people that she knew, John, Mary, Pamela, Jimmy, they were all dead, ghosts, spirits, whatever. "Dead friends?" John nodded and she put the pieces together. She used stories that Dean and Sam had told her, cobbled together with the information she'd found on her own and what she'd learned from the Angels. Maindroids was the guy from the bank robbery. The black cop had to be none other than Agent Hendricks, not a cop, an FBI Agent. The beautiful but haunted brunette must have been Madison the werewolf that Sam had to kill, the brunette all about the money couldn't be anyone other than Bela.

The blonde who was trying to make amends with John was Meg, the girl who was possessed for over a year and the one who prayed for her had to be Layla, the woman who Dean believed died because of him and the mullet guy could only have been the legendary Ash. So that meant the original blonde was Jessica, Sam's would be fiancé.

"What are dead friends of Dean's doing visiting me." Chloe asked and then frowned. "And from the stories I heard, I didn't think that Bela could have really been called a friend."

"We're here because of Dean." Jessica walked in the room and John stood up so she could sit down. "Because of how much he loves us, how much he mourns our deaths."

"But he didn't even know you." Chloe said.

"Do you think it hurts him less?" Jessica asked. "That he didn't know me, that we only met for a total of five minutes before I met my fiery end on the ceiling above his brother? Every loss hurts him, every death, every person he couldn't save whether it was in his power to or not."

"Even Bela?" Chloe asked confused.

"Especially Bela." Jessica said. "Because he knew, no matter what, there was no saving her; she didn't want to be saved."

"Are you getting it yet?" John smiled down at her.

Chloe nodded and remembered what she said to Castiel when he asked how she survived healing him. That it was his love for God, his love for humans that burned away the pain. How she assumed that Dean couldn't have that capacity for love after everything that had happened to him. She'd just been proven wrong. It was almost as if because of everything that had happened to him, he had more love. "It's not enough." Mary said with a frown on her face almost as if she'd read Chloe's mind, which was entirely possible, Chloe wasn't sure of the rules that governed this place. "It's not enough to save you." Mary frowned. "Just enough to distract you from the pain."

Almost as if on cue every inch of Chloe's skin burned as if she was on fire, which was likely the case. Jessica moved and allowed John to take his spot back and he talked her through the pain, telling her a story about when Dean was five and was convinced that he was going to grow up to become the Lone Ranger. She laughed through her tears as John painted the picture of Dean galloping around a motel room saying "Hi Ho Silver Away!" and calling Sam Tonto.

She managed to catch her breath and push away the pain. "But why are you helping me?" Chloe asked John. "If I'm going to die anyway why even bother."

"Look, I'll admit that I might have raised my children slightly emotionally detached." John said and Mary scoffed.

"Slightly?" Mary smiled at him and John turned to her annoyed.

"So because of me, he didn't really develop the gene necessary to tell you himself but he loves you." John smiled. "He loves you and you love him if we can offer you even a modicum of relief, then we'll do whatever it takes."

Suddenly Chloe wished she had told Dean she love him before she died. Even though she knew it would have hurt to hear it before she was gone forever. She knew that at this moment, her life would be infinitely better if she'd had thememory of Dean telling her that he loved her instead of John telling her.

The whole time she'd been here, all the tears that she'd shed had been Deans tears not hers. She cried for his losses, his pains and now finally she cried for hers. She cried for the life that was cut short, she cried for the life she would never have. Mostly she cried for Dean, she cried for the wedding they would never have, "I Chloe, do take this man…" the house they would never buy. She cried for the Christmas' and Thanksgivings they would never throw, where Lois would drink a bit too much and hit on Sam before the Turkey was even carved. Where Bart would pile high his fifth plate of food while everyone was still on their first. She cried for all the good times she'd miss but all the bad times as well, because the good wasn't good without the bad.

"Hey, look at me." John grabbed her face. "Where does it hurt?" He asked her.

She cried and cried for the children and grandchildren. For the fact that she would never get to grow old with him and make fun of Dean when he turned into one of those old guys who complained about the kids these days, "Til death do us part."

"John." Mary laid a hand on his arm and John frowned not understanding. "It's not physical pain." Mary said.

Suddenly he understood. He could see it in her eyes, she was crying for a life unlived. He'd cried that cry, quietly at night while the boys were asleep. He knew that cry. Surprising Mary, Chloe, even himself a bit John pulled her into a hug and rubbed her back, whispering words that he knew wouldn't help but were the only form of comfort he could provide. "Will I forget?" She asked him when she'd managed to compose herself. "When I die, will I forget?"

"No." John said to her sadly. "You'll never forget."

"So something to look forward to then." She wiped her eyes and offered John a little smile, then she started to laugh, she couldn't control it, couldn't stop it, laughter spilled out from her just as minutes before tears did. John joined in and to her surprise Mary soon followed.

* * *

Lois waved at the day nurse and walked down the hallway. Two more weeks was what she'd said the month before. She'd give it two more weeks and then she'd check out of the hotel and go back to Smallville, back to her job, back to her life. Two weeks passed and she checked out of the hotel, got halfway to Smallville and turned back around. Oliver kept telling her that Chloe was dead, that there was nothing that would change that, she just hadn't actually died yet.

She was still breathing on her own but her other organs were slowly and systematically shutting down. The computer that was hooked up to her brain showed constant and varied activity but she wasn't waking up, she wasn't getting better and there was absolutely nothing that they could do to help her. But as long as one of those machines was still showing signs of life, she couldn't leave, she couldn't abandon Chloe.

She'd gotten to know her cousin better in these two weeks than she had her whole life. Every time she showed up to visit there was someone else, someone new who had a story of how Chloe had saved them, or helped them. Someone else showed her a side to Chloe that she hadn't known before and she wanted to know more, about her life, about her adventures, about Castiel, Chloe's Angel. Fat lot of good he was doing her. Lois had managed to talk to him once and only once.

_Lois walked through the door to Chloe's room and prepared to sit in her chair by the bed but someone was already in it. She froze confused. "Hello." She said to the man who was huddled close to her cousin, gripping Chloe's hand like a lifeline. At her greeting he seemed to jump up and back away. Lois frowned. "You're him aren't you? Castiel. The "Angel"." When he didn't answer she glared at him. The nurses said that he was always there, day and night, a constant at her side, but never when anyone else was around. They never saw him come, they never saw him go, but there he was. "You are, aren't you?" _

"_Yes." He nodded. _

"_Fix her." Lois said. _

_  
"I can't." Castiel shook his head as if he'd explained it a thousand times before. _

"_Don't give me that. You're an Angel, you're filled with the Glory of Lord and all that crap. You dragged my cousin into this; it's your fault that she's laying there." Lois voice was shaking with unspent anger and fear and sorrow. _

"_She made her choice." Castiel said. "I can't do anything to change that." _

"_She made her choice?" Lois sobbed as the first tears she'd allowed herself to shed fell from her eyes. "You give Chloe the option to either sacrifice herself or let millions of innocent people die, and you think that's called a choice. Not to Chloe, there's no choice involved. She would give her life to save one and she did it to save millions and all she gets in return is a useless Angel who sits and watches as she wastes away for months attached to machines." _

"_God has a plan." Castiel said calmly. _

"_Screw God." Lois screamed. "Screw his plans. I had a plan. Chloe had plans. What about our plans?" Castiel stepped forward to put a reassuring hand on Lois shoulder. _

"_She was chosen." Castiel said to Lois who looked at him through tear filled eyes. "She was chosen because she's the type of person who sees no choice, who sees no other option. She will be rewarded, whether you believe, or she believes, she will be rewarded." Castiel turned away from Lois and knelt down at Chloe's bedside. _

"_What are you doing?" Lois sniffed her tears away. _

"_Praying for her." Castiel said. _

"_Why?" Lois said. "It's not like God's going to answer." _

"_Because she asked me to." Castiel explained._

_Lois stared at him for a minute then knelt down beside him. "Can I join you?" He nodded and bowed his head. Lois seemed confused for a second and turned to the Angel. "I haven't done this for a while, is there some sort of protocol? Do I have to offer something or…" _

"You just pray." Castiel smiled at her and Lois bowed her head and prayed for the first time in years. Hours later when she lifted her head and looked around he was gone.

She hadn't seen him since and the nurses said that he hadn't been around much the past couple of days and that had Lois worried. She walked in Chloe's room and grabbed the book on her bedside table. It had appeared there one day and Lois just started reading to Chloe from it, it gave her something to do, a purpose and it kept her from falling apart. She opened the book to the place she left off and began reading.

"Ariadne was the daughter of King Minos of Crete. King Minos was in charge of the Labyrinth, which housed the fearful Minotaur. Every nine years seven boys and seven girls were sent into the Labyrinth and sacrificed to the Minotaur. Ariadne never paid much attention until one year she met Theseus. He'd volunteered to come and kill the Minotaur and it was love at first sight." Lois snorted but continued on. "Theseus was supposed to go into the Labyrinth empty handed but Ariadne, unable to bear the thought that he wouldn't come out again, gave him a sword and ball of string. Theseus used the string to navigate the Labyrinth and the sword to kill the Minotaur. In appreciation for her assistance, Theseus promised to make Ariadne his bride and brought her with him when he headed home to Athens."

"That's a bit quick don't you think?" Lois shook her head. "Ariadne never made it to Athens however. Theseus stopped to rest on the Island of Naxos and when he set sail again, he set sail without his bride to be." Lois stopped and stared at the words on the page. "He'd just left her alone on the island to die." She closed her eyes and shook her head, looking up at Chloe. "Remind you of anyone?" She asked.

The only person who hadn't been to visit Chloe was Dean. Oliver's excuse that Chloe had told him not to wasn't enough for Lois and if she had half of Chloe's know how she'd have tracked him down weeks ago and kicked his ass all the way back to Star City. You don't let someone give their life for you then not visit them. That's not how things were done in polite society.

She closed the book, having her fill of the depressing Greek myths and turned to set it on the table next to her. When she turned back to the bed she almost fell out of her chair. There was a man standing on the other side of the bed. He was at once both beautiful and fearsome and the mere sight of him set Lois on edge. It was just his presence however, it was the fact that in front of her eyes she watched as Chloe's body seemed to rise into the air.

"Fear not." He smiled at Lois and her tension seemed to melt away. "For all is well."

"No offense or anything dude, but my cousin is floating above her covers, that doesn't exactly scream "all is well" to me." Lois pointed out.

"It will be." He assured her as the room was engulfed in a white light and Lois blinked as it blinded her.

* * *

Lois heard a familiar laughter coming from beside her and turned her head away from the glare of the sun.

"I told you to pack two pairs of sunglasses." Chloe smiled over at her cousin. "You always lose your sunglasses and if you'd have packed two pair like I told you, you wouldn't be squinting right now. Squinting gives you wrinkles you know."

"Shut up." Lois said, reaching into the pool and splashing Chloe. "Uh I can't believe you just asked Oliver and he gave us his beach house for the week."

"The perks of having friends in high places." Chloe shrugged.

"How long have we been planning on coming to Hawaii?" Lois asked her.

"Only like all our lives." Chloe smiled up at the sky and suddenly it got darker.

"Miss Lane." A voice called out to Lois from far away. "Miss Lane."

"Do you hear that?" Lois looked around but there was no one else there, just her and Chloe.

"Hear what?" Chloe frowned.

"Lois, Lois, you have to wake up." This time it was Oliver's voice and she heard it as clear as day.

She looked at the darkening sky and then over at Chloe. "I don't want to wake up." Lois said.

"What are you talking about?" Chloe asked her. "You are awake."

"No." Lois shook her head. "I'm not."

"Lois?" Chloe took off her glasses.

"We don't have time for this." Another familiar voice said and Lois felt a hand on her forehead and a sharp ache of pain and then she was awake, back in Chloe's room, surrounded by nurses, Oliver, and Castiel. "What happened?"

"What do you mean?" Lois frowned.

"Chloe's gone." Oliver said. "The nurses said they saw a white light and when they came in Chloe was gone and you were on the ground."

"Gone?" Lois pushed through the throng of people in the room to the empty bed.

"Who took her?" Castiel demanded.

"Took her?" Lois asked then sighed. "The man."

"Man?" Oliver looked at the nurses who shook their heads; no one had gone in the room except for Lois.

"Not a man, an Angel. But not like you, a real one." She said to Castiel.

"I am a real one." Castiel shook his head.

"Yeah but he had wings and everything." Lois brushed him off. Castiel wanted to point out that he also had wings but now was not the time. "He just showed up. He told me not be afraid. He told me that all was well." Lois remembered the feeling of peace he'd instilled in her. "And then Chloe was floating and there was the light, it was coming from his wings, like pouring out of them."

"His wings were white?" Castiel asked and Lois nodded.

"You know him?" Oliver asked.

"Michael." Castiel said. There was only one of God's Angel's who had wings of white, his own Prince of Light, Michael.

"As in the Archangel Michael?" Oliver blanched.

"But the only reason he would take her…it hasn't happened in millennia." Castiel looked up. "I have to go."

"Wait, what's going on?" Lois asked but he was already gone.

* * *

They thought she was resting, that she was asleep and she had been but a strange sensation woke her up and she saw them in the corner, Mary and John, huddled together like teenagers, giggling and kissing, and it made her smile, until Pamela busted in the room. "Something's wrong." She brought a hand up to her head and winced as blood dripped from her nose and Chloe knew that was wrong because spirits, or ghosts, or whatever it was they were didn't bleed.

Chloe jumped out of the bed and walked over to Pamela but fell to her knees halfway there. John ran to her as Mary tended to the witch. "What's going on?" Chloe didn't know but she couldn't tell him that because whatever it was sucked the air out of her. "Chloe, stay with me, come on sweetie, you can do this, you can fight this."

"No." Mary put a hand on John's shoulder. "It's time John. She's dying." John stared up at Mary as if he didn't understand the meaning of the words and she frowned. "You've got to let her go."

He nodded and kissed Chloe's forehead smiling down at her. "You'll be fine; you'll be more than fine." He assured her. She wanted to believe him, wanted to believe that she would be ok but another wave of pain washed over her and she thought to herself that death wasn't supposed to hurt that much. She couldn't fight any more; she just didn't have the strength. She looked at John for possibly permission she wasn't sure. "It's ok." John told her and she smiled as she closed her eyes and let go.

Suddenly the pain was gone. She felt fine; better than she'd had in years. This, she thought, was what death was supposed to feel like. She opened her eyes, curious beyond belief about what heaven looked like. She wanted to know if it would be the enormous Cathedral that Castiel saw or would she get her own version of heaven filled with Unicorns and gumdrops, assuming that she'd made it to heaven. Frankly if she didn't, she was going to demand a recount. She opened her eyes and looked around confused. She wasn't in a Cathedral; she wasn't even in field with Unicorns and gumdrops. She was in a room. It looked like a sitting room of an old French Castle. There were heavy gilded frames filled with renaissance art. White walls covered in intricate moldings and tons of heavy Louis the Fourteenth furniture. "This is heaven?" Chloe asked out loud.

"I'm afraid not." Castiel said from behind her and she turned around smiling. "There's been a change of plans."


	8. Ariadne Part Two

Lois paced back and forth dialing a number on her phone for the hundredth time as Oliver barked out orders to his team. "Stupid Angels." She mumbled when she once again got a busy signal. "Stupid Short Round not answering his phone." She hung up and dialed again. "Stupid disappearing cousins." The signal was busy again and Lois threw the phone across the room, and collapsed on the bed.

Oliver winced. "All right guys, can I have the room?" He led everyone out and closed the doors then walked over to Lois. He sat on Chloe's empty bed next to her. "We're going to find her, I promise you."

Lois lifted her head wearily and just stared at him. "Oliver, when it comes to normal run of the mill criminals, you can promise that. When it comes to meteor enhanced criminals, you can promise that. But when it comes to Angels and Archangels and Demons and the end of the world, you can't promise that."

"Yes I can." Oliver protested. "Because if I don't find her, you're going to castrate me." He stood up. "And I really don't want that to happen."

Lois smiled and chuckled at him before standing up. "You're right." Oliver raised an eyebrow. "Well you're not right about the castrating." She paused. "No you're probably right about the castrating. We're going to find her, we have to find her." She knelt down beside the bed and bowed her head.

"What are you doing?" Oliver asked.

"Praying." Lois said. "But I'm not very good at it so get down here and help me."

"Lois I'm not really one for praying." Oliver protested.

Lois looked up at him. "Ollie, my cousin heals people, dies and comes back to life. You've recently discovered that there really are demons and Angels fighting a war for the future of humanity. Can you really stand there and tell me that you're not one for praying?"

Oliver sighed and knelt on the ground. "So how do I do this? Do I just ask for what I want or do I have to offer him something in return?"

"That's what I asked." Lois smiled over at him. "Cas said you just prayed but that doesn't seem fair, so I promised to stop making Clark get my coffee."

"Right." Oliver said and closed his eyes.

"Make it good." Lois told him. "I mean you're not asking for like a pony here, this is my cousin."

"I got it." Oliver assured her. Lois breathed a sigh of relief and went back to her prayer.

She was silent for a minute then turned to him. "Don't forget that you're like really rich so you can promise more so make sure your not holding out on him."

"Lois I swear to God." Oliver groaned at her and she gasped, smacking him in the head and looking around.

"Don't swear while we're praying." She glared at him. "Now I have to promise something else to counter act your potty mouth." She looked up at the ceiling. "He's sorry, really."

She closed her eyes with renewed vigor and Oliver smiled and went back to his own prayer.

* * *

Chloe blinked once, twice, then a third time. "What do you mean a change of plans?" Chloe frowned at Castiel. "This isn't heaven?"

"No." He shook his head.

"But I did die?" She asked and he nodded. "So then is this hell?" She looked around the room. "Better decor then I would have thought."

"This isn't hell." Castiel said, trying to figure out how to explain this to her.

"Ok, so I died, but I'm not in Heaven and I'm not in Hell." Chloe frowned and looked down at her body. "What am I wearing?" She lifted the edges of the long silky white gown and noticed for the first time she seemed to be dressed for bed in a Carey Grant film.

"It's what you died in." Castiel told her.

"I died in this?" Chloe frowned. "I wasn't wearing this when…who would have put me in this?" Castiel opened his mouth and Chloe glared. "Bart huh? It was Bart wasn't it? Did he think we were in the middle of a Regency Romance Novel? I'm freaking barefoot again." She wiggled her toes. "Am I going to be barefoot for all eternity?"

"No." Castiel tried to explain and she cut him off again.

"Oh, am I going to be reincarnated? Can it be something cool and not like a cow?" She bit her lip. "This is going to sound weird but I always thought it might be neat to be Canadian. Can I come back as a Canadian? Just to test it out?"

"You're an Angel." Castiel blurted out. "You've become and Angel."

"I'm a Vessel?" Chloe asked confused.

"No, not a vessel. You aren't possessed by an Angel. You've become an Angel." Castiel told her. "It hasn't happened for a very long time, longer than even I can remember. It was once considered the highest honor a human can receive."

Chloe stared at Castiel and sat down in one of the plush turn of the century chairs. "I'm sorry, I just did a thirty year stint in hell so I'm trying to follow you I really am, but I swear you just said I'd become an Angel."

"That's exactly what he said." Another Angel walked in the room and smiled at Chloe. "Chloe Sullivan it is such a pleasure to meet you."

"And you are?"

"This is Zachariah." Castiel introduced him.

"Your cousin never finished her story." Zachariah sat down next to Chloe and smiled at her.

"I'm sorry?" Chloe asked confused.

"Lois." Zachariah said. "She never finished the story of Ariadne. Yes, she risked her life to help Theseus kill the Minotaur and escape the Labyrinth and sadly yes he did leave her alone on island of Naxos. But she left out the most important part."

"What part is that?" Chloe asked him.

"While on the island, alone, lamenting her fate a miracle happened. The god Dionysus appeared in all his divine glory and rescued her." Zachariah smiled. "Normally I'm not one for mythology, being an Angel of the Lord and all, but I thought the ending rather fitting as it were."

"So God just decided to make me into an Angel as a thank you?" Chloe frowned.

"That was my decision actually." Zachariah said. "I'll admit I was surprised when you showed up, out of nowhere but anyone can see all that you've sacrificed, all that you've done to aid us in this final battle." At the still unsure look on Chloe's face he continued. "This is a gift." He told her. "It's a good thing, and you deserve it." He stood up and walked to the door. "It's all a little disorienting at first, Castiel is here to help you with anything you need. I'll see you later Chloe." He smiled at her one last time and then he was gone.

"Are you ok?" Castiel asked her.

"I'm fine." Chloe assured him. "Sam and Dean." She said suddenly. "Are they ok? Am I keeping you from them? If they need you…"

"There's nothing more I can do for them at this point." Castiel admitted. "I can only let things play themselves out." He said that with such sorrow in his voice that Chloe knew something was wrong.

"Cas, what aren't you telling me?" Chloe advanced on him concerned. "What's going on?"

"There's nothing you can do to stop it." Castiel warned her.

"Nothing I can do to stop what?" Chloe asked and took another step toward him.

"Leave it alone." Castiel said tightly.

"Yeah." Chloe smiled. "Did you really think that was going to work?" She shook her head. "Tell me." She said slapping a hand on Castiel's forehead and suddenly he was showing her everything that had happened since she'd been gone.

After she healed him Dean started going after the demons with a fervor matched only by Sam. Except Sam was losing his steam, losing his mojo and Chloe knew that was because he wasn't on a steady diet of demon blood. In the heat of battle Chloe cringed as she watched Sam tear into the throat of a demon and gorge himself on her blood, all while Dean stood by watching. "Oh Sam." Chloe cried.

She watched as Dean and Bobby locked Sam in Bobby's panic room to detox and Chloe could barely watch as Sam took his own journey to hell and back. She'd promised to save him too but she hadn't had the time and now he had paid the price. She watched closer, confused as Castiel forced Dean to swear his allegiance to the Angels and their plan in order to save his brother and then turn around and open the panic room, setting Sam free and into the arms of Ruby. She was in tears by the time she saw Sam and Dean fight each other, Dean telling Sam he could never come back and and Sam walking out.

Castiel forcibly pulled himself free of Chloe's grasp and they fell to the floor panting, Castiel looking at her with a mixture of fear and awe. "How did you do that?"

"I don't know." Chloe said wiping her eyes.

"You shouldn't be able to do that." Castiel said. "Not yet."

"Like I told Anna, I'm a fast learner." Chloe pulled herself to her feet. "How could you let that happen? What have you been doing since I've been gone?"

"My job." Castiel told her standing up on his own. "You had your job to do and I had mine."

"What good could possibly come of letting Sam go off the deep end?" Chloe said. "You've put off dealing with him for far too long and now he'll be too powerful. How can we possibly stop him without killing him?" When Castiel said nothing Chloe's frown got even deeper. "You don't want to stop him."

"Chloe you don't understand…" Castiel protested.

"Help me to understand." Chloe said, slamming her hand on his forehead again.

Chloe watched again as Sam got closer and closer to the point of no return. Following Ruby, killing that innocent woman, all for the power to stop Lilith, to kill Lilith.

She watched as Dean was taken by Castiel and Zachariah, put somewhere that looked surprisingly similar to the room she'd been brought to and told he was there for his own safety. She watched as Dean, ever disagreeable to the very end raged against the room, against his captors and demanded answers to questions that he'd been asking for the past year.

Then she watched as he got them. Chloe put the pieces together right alongside Dean as Zachariah explained how he never intended for Sam and Dean to stop Lilith. How he wanted her to break the seals, to bring about the apocalypse. He saw the apocalypse as the first step in Paradise on earth, the collateral damage of the human race an acceptable loss for the end result. He then told Dean his real role, the real reason he was chosen, not to stop Lilith, not to stop the apocalypse, but to stop Lucifer when the dust settled. Chloe felt her stomach drop to the floor when Dean asked him where God was in this whole plan and Zachariah told him that God had left the building.

"No." Chloe shook her head and Castiel tried to pull away. "No." Chloe held on tighter and she was sucked further into the memories until she was there, standing in the room with Dean as he paced back and forth.

"Dean." Chloe reached out to him but her hand passed right through. Sheepishly she pulled it back and watched him as Castiel appeared and Dean turned to glare at him.

"Why are you here Cas?" Dean asked him.

"We've been through much together you and I and I wanted to say I'm sorry it ended like this." Castiel walked over to him.

"Sorry?" Dean smirked then punched him, probably breaking a few bones in his hand. "It's Armageddon Cas, you need a bigger word than sorry."

"Try to understand." Castiel explained. "This is long foretold. This is your…"

"Destiny?" Dean cut him off. "Don't give me that holy crap. Destiny? God's plan? It's just a bunch of lies you stupid son of a bitch. It's just a way for your bosses to keep me and keep you in line." Castiel closed his eyes, not wanting to hear the truth of his statement. "You know what's real? People families, that's real, and you're going to watch them all burn?"

"What is so worth saving?" Castiel asked. "I see nothing but pain here. I was on earth for a year and all I saw was pain. In paradise all is forgiven, you'll be at peace, even with Sam."

Dean stared at Castiel as if he couldn't believe what the Angel was saying. "You can take your peace and shove it up your lily white ass." He turned away from the Angel. "I'll take the pain and guilt, I'll even take Sam as is. It's better than being some Stepford bitch in paradise." Dean screamed. "What about Chloe? What she did for me, what she did for you. Aren't people like her worth saving?" Castiel looked more hurt than when Dean had actually hit him. "This is simple. No more crap about being a good soldier. There's a right and a wrong here and you know it. You were going to warn me about this before they dragged you back to bible camp. Help me now please." Dean pleaded with him.

"What would you have me do?" Castiel asked him.

"Get me to Sam, we can stop this together." Dean pleaded.

"I do that we will all be hunted. We'll all be killed." Castiel shook his head, the fear thick and palpable in his voice.

"If there is anything worth dying for, this is it." Dean told him, every word dipped in anger, desperation and fear. Castiel just looked away. "You spineless soulless son of a bitch. What do you care about dying your already dead. We're done." When Castiel made no move to leave, Dean snapped at him. "We're done."

Castiel hung his head and disappeared and Chloe was dragged from the memory to find herself once again on the floor, panting. "How could you?" She pulled herself up and backed away from him.

"What could I do?" Castiel pleaded with her, sincerely wanting to know the answer. "This plan has been in motion for decades. Every step, every part, every player has been manipulated for so long that there's no getting around it."

They were both quiet for a long time until Chloe realized something. "You're wrong." Castiel looked at her confused and she turned to him smiling. "Don't you see?" Chloe walked up to him. "You're wrong. I'm the proof of that. Zachariah thinks that God has left the building, that he's no longer calling the shots? Then how did I get here?"

"Zachariah brought you here." Castiel said. "He was afraid you would ruin everything."

"Exactly." Chloe smiled. "Exactly. If he's had everything, every step, every player planned out, why is he so scared of me?" Castiel slowly started to follow her line of thinking. "I was never a part of his plan, even the prophet didn't know about me. I thought I was a part of Anna's plan but that's wrong too. I'm a part of his plan, of God's plan, Anna is too. He brought me to Anna and Anna brought me to you."

"But what does it mean?" Castiel asked, tears in his eyes. "Why would God allow us to do this if it's not his will."

"It was all a part of his plan." Chloe explained. "Zachariah really has the nerve to believe that he can do a single thing that God doesn't want him to do. God wanted him to let the seals be broken. God wanted him to attempt his plan."

"But why?" Castiel shook his head.

"It's not about Zachariah, it's not even about the Angel's or the Demons or Lucifer himself." Chloe put a hand on his cheek. "It's about us, humans, it's about our choices. Dean told me a story once about a town that had basically gone to hell in a hand basket and they were convinced the place was swarming with demons, sabotaging, seducing and ruining the people. But really there was just one. One demon who had one conversation and the people took care of the rest."

"Free Will." Castiel said in understanding.

"That's everything, it's always been everything. It's about the choices we make. Sometimes we make the wrong ones but they're ours. There is no destiny, there can't be. A world that has free will can have no destiny. It's up to us, it's up to Sam, and it's up to Dean."

"But what can we do?" Castiel shook his head.

"We can give up. Dean can decide that even though deep down he knows it's wrong, he can just give up, we can all give up. Zachariah's very powerful, he's got an army on his side, two armies."

"If we give up, Lucifer rises, people will die." Castiel said.

"Exactly so we make the choice to fight." Chloe told him. "We fight until there's nothing left and then we keep going. We don't give up because we're scared. We don't give up because it'll be hard, impossible. We keep going and we prove them wrong."

"What if we fail?" Castiel asked. "What if we can't win?"

"Then we go down fighting." Chloe said and Castiel nodded grabbing her hand.

Dean turned confused as the cheeseburger was slapped from his hand and froze, his eyes wide. He had to be hallucinating now, either that or they were trying to keep him happy, trying to give him what he wanted so he'd forget what they were doing. Chloe. She was standing in front of him, smiling and looking even more radiant then he could have ever imagined. He opened his mouth to call out to her and it was suddenly covered as he was shoved against the wall. He looked between Castiel and Chloe as she brought a finger to her lips. Dean nodded and Castiel let him go. He took two steps to Chloe then stopped, wondering if it was really her or if it was a trick. "It's me." She whispered to him.

Something inside of him seemed to snap. It was like his body had become one taught wire and Chloe's mere presence was all it took to break him. He grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her into a hug, gripping her like she was his lifeline and she could disappear any second. Dean pulled away when Castiel placed a hand on his shoulder. His eyes never left hers though as Castiel handed her a knife. She sliced down her forearm, dipped her fingertip in the blood and started drawing on the wall.

"Castiel?" Zachariah walked in the room. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Castiel pushed Dean behind him as Chloe put her bloody hand in the middle of the circle. A bright white light exploded into the room and they all covered their eyes.

"He won't be gone long." Chloe said. "He's too powerful."

"I don't understand." Dean looked at Chloe. "What are you doing here? How are you here?"

"We really don't have time for stories." Chloe kissed him softly. "I just need you to trust me."

"Always." Dean nodded.

"We need to get to Sam." Chloe turned to Castiel. "Where is he?"

"I don't know." Castiel said. "But I know someone who does. We have to stop him Dean, stop him from killing Lilith."

"But Lilith's going to break the final seal." Dean said.

"Lilith is the final seal." Castiel corrected him. "She dies, the end begins." Dean and Chloe's eyes went wide as Castiel grabbed the both of them and disappeared.

They reappeared in the middle of a kitchen watching as guy ordered twenty hookers over the phone. "This is the prophet?" Chloe frowned.

"You should have seen Luke." Castiel said.

"Did he just make a joke?" Chloe asked amazed. Chuck turned around and finally noticed their presence. Dean scrambled for the phone hoping it was Sam but he didn't recognize the number so he hit ignore and slipped the phone back in his pocket.

"This isn't supposed to happen." Chuck jumped in the air and dropped the phone. "You aren't even supposed to…you should be dead." He pointed at Chloe and searched through his papers. "Yeah, last draft you were dead."

"Freaky right." Chloe smirked at him and took a step closer. "Where's Sam?"

"I can't tell you." Chuck shook his head and Dean snatched the papers from him and quickly read it.

"A convent?" Dean frowned as a white light surrounded the house and the whole building started shaking.

"Not again." Chuck groaned.

"An Archangel." Castiel said. "You go, I'll hold him off." He traded a look with Chloe that Dean didn't understand and then the two of them were gone.

This time they appeared in the entrance to the chapel. Dean let out a sigh of relief when he saw Sam and still very much alive Lilith, pinned to the altar. "Sam." He whispered and Ruby turned around to look at them, holding a hand out and slamming the door closed, cutting Dean off from his brother. "Sammy!" Dean screamed as he banged against the door. He looked around and grabbed a large candle holder using it as a battering ram.

"What's the plan here?" Chloe asked him.

"Lilith's a fallen Angel right?" Dean asked and Chloe nodded. "So technically she's still an Angel."

"Technically." Chloe agreed with him.

"So you can use some of that mojo you've got and send her away, like you sent the others?" Dean asked.

"Yeah." Chloe nodded. "But what about Sam?"

"I'll hold him down while you do your thing." Dean paused in his quest to open the door. "I'll knock him out if I have to."

"Dean wait." Chloe reached out and grabbed his hand. "You can't stop Sammy."

"What?" Dean froze with the candle holder in his hands. "If I don't stop him, he kills Lilith and then out comes Lucifer."

"No, I know that, he has to be stopped, he can't kill Lilith, but you can't stop him." Chloe said and Dean turned to her confused. "Sam has made one wrong choice after the other these past few months, I'm not denying that. He crossed a line Dean and the only way to even begin to fix that are with his choices."

"What are you saying?" Dean frowned.

"If you want to save the world, stop the apocalypse, knock his ass out." Chloe said. "Hit him with the candle holder if you want to." Dean smiled like he thought that was a good idea. "But if you want to save Sam, you're going to have to let him make the choice to stop."

"Well when he knows that Lilith is the final seal…"

"You can't tell him." Chloe shook her head. "He's not going to believe you anyway and he's got to make the decision, not because of Lilith, but because he's knows it's wrong."

"He won't listen to me." Dean frowned.

"Make him." Chloe said and Dean took a deep breath before starting to slam the door again. When it didn't work, Chloe held up her hand and the door flew inward off its hinges. "Sammy stop." Dean ran into the room.

"Dean." Sam turned to the door and frowned. "Chloe?"

"Hey Sammy." Chloe walked in the room with a smile on her face.

"You're too late." Lilith coughed.

"I can do this." Sam said to Dean and held a hand out. "Just let me do this and it'll be over."

"Sam." Dean took a step forward. "Just listen to me for a second. You can't do this. There's something about this that's just not right and deep down you know it. There's no turning back from this."

"What are you going to do? Kill me?" Sam laughed bitterly. "That's why you're here right? Dad always said that one day you might have to do it."

"No." Dean shook his head. "I'm not going to kill you. I'm not going fight you, hit you, I'm not going to do anything except ask you to trust me." Dean dropped the candlestick to the ground.

"Why?" Sam faltered at this.

"Because I'm trying to help you Sammy." Dean said. "I'm trying to save you."

"What do you care? I thought I was just a monster." Sam stared at Dean confused.

"Of course I care." Dean said to him. "You're my brother. It doesn't matter what you do, I'll always care."

"Don't listen to him Sam, he's weak, he's too weak to do what needs to be done, but you're not." Ruby told him. "Kill her, finish this."

"Sam, I have never once steered you wrong. Whatever I've done, it's always been for you. To keep you safe." Dean said. "Just one more time I need you to trust me. Don't do this."

Sam looked between Dean and Ruby and put his hand down. "I'm sorry." He said to Ruby who seemed to be in shock.

"You can't save him." Lilith laughed from her position by the altar. Sam was no longer holding her so she stood up. "He's already turned himself into a monster, the hard part's been done."

"Maybe I can't save him. I'm not giving up though." Chloe walked past Sam and stood in front of Lilith. "But I can save you." Chloe smiled, smearing more blood on her arm from the cut she'd made earlier. She started quickly drawing something on the top of the altar.

"What?" Lilith laughed. "Calling in re-enforcements. Getting all your little Angel buddies down here?"

"Nope. Getting one out of here." Chloe smiled and placed her hand in the middle of the drawing. Lilith, Ruby, and Sam all screamed as Lilith's body fell to the ground and the dental hygienist from Bloomingdale, Indiana emerged as the smoke exited her body and was sucked into the floor.

"What's going on?" The woman looked around. "Where am I?"

"It's ok." Chloe bent down to help her up and passed her off to Dean who set her down in a pew.

"Where is Lilith?" Ruby asked frantically. "What did you just do?"

"I sent her to the deepest darkest pit in hell. It'll take her a millennia to dig her way back out." Chloe admitted.

"You ruined everything." Ruby screamed, her eyes wild. "I've been working on this for years." She edged closer to Chloe. "You don't even know how hard this was. All the demons out for my head, nobody knew. I was the best of those sons of bitches. The most loyal, not even Alistair knew, only Lilith."

"I don't understand." Sam shook his head completely lost at this new turn of events.

"Lilith was the last Seal." Dean explained. "If you'd have killed her…"

"I would have opened the gate." Sam slumped up against the wall. "I would have freed Lucifer."

"You've been a thorn in my side since you showed up." Ruby shook her head.

"Sometimes I rub people the wrong way." Chloe shrugged. "It's a character flaw."

"You showed up out of nowhere. You started messing with Sam's head, whispering in his ear." Ruby shook her head. "You ruined Dean."

"I healed him." Chloe shook her head.

"He was worth more to us broken." Ruby told her.

"I'm sorry did I mess up your plans to create hell on earth?" Chloe tilted her head.

"Actually yeah you did." Ruby said. "Now let me return the favor." She had her hands around Chloe's neck in seconds and with a twist of her wrist, it snapped and Chloe slumped to the ground.

"No!" Sam and Dean screamed. Sam grabbed Ruby and spun her around just as Dean thrust the knife in Ruby's chest, twisting it and pushing it in as far as he could as the demon died and released the already dead body that she'd been inhabiting.

Sam dropped the body to the ground as Dean dropped the knife. He numbly made his way over to Chloe. He couldn't believe that he'd gotten her back, only to lose her again. He fell to the ground next to her body and felt Sam come up behind him. "Dean, I'm so sorry."

Dean ignored him and grabbed Chloe, pulling her into his lap as he finally cried for her, cried the tears he'd kept bottled up for her these past three months. "Hey." Chloe whispered and Dean felt a hand on his cheek. "Why are you crying?" Dean jumped up, dropping Chloe's head to the ground and she groaned and rubbed the back of her head as she stood up. "That was slightly rude."

"You died." Dean told her.

"My body died." Chloe corrected him.

"You can heal your own wounds?" Sam asked. "I didn't think that's how it worked."

"I sort of got an upgrade." Chloe bit her lip.

"What kind of upgrade?" Dean asked her.

Chloe smiled at him and it was almost as if lightning flashed in the room and Dean and Sam both stood in disbelief when the shadow of wings appeared behind her. "Oh." Dean said sheepishly. "That kind of upgrade."

Sam laughed and fell into a pew. Chloe smiled, trying not to laugh but failing when Dean's laughter erupted. "You people are crazy." The girl that had been Lilith shook her head at them and that only made them laugh harder.

"It's over?" Dean asked, the finality of the situation hitting him like a ton of bricks.

"The final seal can't be broken." Chloe said. "Lilith's gone." She turned her head to look at Sam and he instantly sobered up, his laughter dying on his lips. "But it's far from over." Dean looked between Sam and Chloe confused as she walked over and sat down next to him. "I'm so sorry."

"You're sorry?" Sam asked her confused. "What do you have to be sorry about?"

"That I didn't try harder." Chloe said. "I knew what was going on and I thought you had it under control, I thought you would make the right decision."

"That's hardly your fault." Sam assured her.

"You made the right decision today. That's what matters, that's the only thing that matters." Dean said. "Everything else we can deal with together."

"You mean that?" Sam asked him.

"Like I said you're my brother." Dean said and he could see tears start to form in Sam's eyes. "Don't go all chick on me now Sammy."

Sam started to say something then stopped and pointed behind Dean and Chloe. They both turned and frowned to see three people, two guys and a girl, standing there behind them, still and quiet. "Demons?" Dean asked looking at the knife which he'd dropped to the ground five feet away from them.

"I don't think so." Chloe shook her head and stood up. The three of them immediately bowed, dropping to their knees and pressing their noses to the ground. "This is new." She turned to Dean and when she looked back there were four more people, all of them silent, all of them bowing.

"They're Angel's." Anna walked into the room and nodded at Chloe.

"I don't understand." Dean said.

"I'm not that sure I do either." Chloe looked at the people who kept showing up out of nowhere and bowing down to her.

"You really don't do you?" Castiel walked in the room.

"Cas." Chloe's face split into a grin and she ran to hug him. His lip was bloody his shirt torn to shreds but he was alive. He pulled away from her and fell to the ground bowing down. "Cas, stop, it's not funny."

"Don't you see Chloe?" Castiel lifted his head to look at her. "You were the one true believer, the true warrior."

"Ok, that's fine but could you stop with the bowing?" Chloe looked at him confused.

"They can't." Anna explained. "Zachariah is done with. You're the leader now."

Sam and Dean both turned to Chloe with their eyebrows raised. "But I don't want to be their new leader. I'm not…" Chloe looked helplessly at Anna. "Make them stop."

"I can't." Anna smiled at her.

"At least make them stand up." Chloe asked.

"You're their leader." Anna shrugged. "Order then to stand up."

"Stand up please." Chloe said to them but they all ignored her.

"I said order them to stand up, not politely ask them if they don't mind could they possibly stand up." Anna said.

"Stand." Chloe snapped and they all stood to attention and stared at her. "Oh." Chloe said surprised. "What now?"

"They're waiting for your orders." Anna sat down amused.

"I don't have any orders." Chloe said. "I wouldn't even know what orders to give. I've only been doing this Angel thing for like five hours." She pointed out. "Ok, I appoint Castiel to second in command and hereby relinquish all giving order powers to him."

Castiel just smiled at her and nodded. "You all had jobs to do before this whole thing started, go back to that await further instructions." Castiel told them. "You are dismissed."

They all bowed one more time and then one by one just disappeared. "Well I could have done that." Chloe said sheepishly and Castiel spared her a smile.

"What happens now?" Dean asked.

"We have to go." Castiel nodded at Chloe. "There's a lot of work that needs to be done, a lot of things that need to be set right."

"I'm not going anywhere." Chloe shook her head confused.

"Everything is in shambles." Castiel explained to her. "Faith is running very low and you're the one who stopped the apocalypse. They need a leader right now, they need you."

"Well they can't have me. You do it, you lead them." Chloe told him. "I have to get home, everyone thinks I'm dead.

"You are dead." Castiel told her. "For all intents and purposes Chloe Sullivan's dead."

"But…" Chloe shook her head. "No, we stopped everything. There's no more apocalypse so I want to go home."

Dean put a hand on her arm as Castiel frowned. "You can't."

"You can't do this to me." Chloe shook her head. "You gave me a job to do and I did it. I prepared myself, I was ready to die, I got all my friends and family ready for my death and then you throw me this curve ball. You gave me back a taste of life." She looked over at Dean. "You can't take it away from me again."

"This is a gift." Castiel told her confused. "It's an honor. It's your reward."

"It's not." Chloe reminded him. "It was just a part of Zachariah's plan that backfired on him. It's not a reward, it's a fluke."

Castiel shook his head at her almost in disappointment. "You were the one who reminded me that nothing happens unless God wants it to. If he allowed Zachariah to let his plan play out, then he allowed him to do this to you because he thought you deserved it."

"But I just want to be me." Chloe frowned at him. "I just want to be Chloe. I want to go back to my life, I want to do my job, I want to shop for groceries, watch lame Sci-Fi movies. Fall in love." She smiled at Dean. "I want to be human."

"It's ok." Castiel explained to her. "After a while you won't even remember being human. All you'll know is being an Angel. You'll forget your old life, your friends and family, and…" Castiel looked over at Sam and Dean.

Chloe recoiled as if he'd just slapped her. "But I don't want to forget." She whispered. "I don't want to forget my life, I don't want to forget my family. I don't want to forget you." She turned to Dean. "Don't make me forget you."

"You won't." Dean kissed her softly. "How can you do this? How can it be a reward if she doesn't want it?"

"It's happened." Castiel said. "There's nothing to be done about it."

"That's not entirely true." Anna piped up and everyone turned to her. "There is a way."

* * *

"Are you sure about this?" Dean asked Chloe as Anna and Castiel argued. When Anna told Chloe that she could in fact go back, all she had to do was pull out her grace, it turned into one of the biggest arguments that Chloe had ever seen. When the argument went past the thirty minute mark, Sam decided to take the dental hygienist formerly known as Lilith to the nearest bus station. Dean and Chloe simply sat down in a pew and relaxed, Chloe curled up against Dean's side and rested her head on his chest.

"I'm positive." Chloe nodded, savoring every minute of something she thought she'd never get a chance to do again. "If there's a chance that I can go back, that I can have my life back, I've got to take it don't I?"

"But what about everything you're giving up." Dean pointed out. "You could be the leader of the greatest army in existence."

"Cause that's always been my lifelong dream." Chloe smiled at him. "Right after owning a Unicorn and before the Easy Bake Oven. General of the Angel Army." Dean chuckled at her.

"There's no guarantee that you'll go back to your old life." Castiel turned to Chloe. "Did she tell you that?"

"Yes." Chloe looked at him. "Five times."

"I also said that no one's specifically tried to go back as a certain person before." Anna said. "It could work."

Castiel and Anna started screaming at each other again and Dean rolled his eyes. "When are those two crazy kids just going to get together already?" Chloe laughed and looked at the two of them. Anna did seem ready to either strangle him unconscious or kiss him senseless. "He has a point you know." Dean whispered. "There's no guarantee that you'll come back as Chloe Sullivan."

"No but I have faith." She pointed out.

"That's all?" Dean frowned. "No special Angel mojo up your sleeves?"

"Faith's all I need." Chloe assured him.

"I need more than that." Dean said to her. "I just got you back, I can't lose you again."

"You won't." Chloe assured him.

"You don't know that." Dean shook his head. "You can't guarantee. If you stayed, we could be together." Chloe looked at him skeptically.

"The Angel and the Hunter?" Chloe laughed. "It sounds like a bad sitcom." Dean laughed. "I've been debating on telling you something for the past hour and I'm still not sure what I should do."

Dean took a deep breath and started rubbing her arm slowly. "Well let's see we just stopped my brother from releasing Lucifer from hell, you buried Lilith in the deepest darkest whole you could find, you died and became an Angel, what can you tell me that would be even remotely shocking?"

"I met your parents." Chloe said and Dean's hand immediately stopped rubbing her arm.

"Mom and Dad?" Sam asked from behind them and Chloe turned and smiled. She motioned for him to sit.

"They were amazing." Chloe smiled. "I wouldn't have made it if it weren't for them."

"I don't understand." Dean frowned.

Chloe explained how John and Mary and all of their other dead friends came and helped her make it through the pain by telling her stories or holding her hand or just sitting with her. "They were together?" Dean asked a little choked up.

"Yeah." Chloe smiled. "When they thought I was sleeping, I would see them, huddled together like teenagers." Sam and Dean smiled. "John refused to let me give up. He forced me back every time I wanted to quit."

"That sounds like Dad." Sam laughed.

"So they're happy?" Dean asked her. "They're together and they're happy?" Chloe nodded. "Good, that's…" He smiled over at Sam. "That's great."

"When it comes down to it, it doesn't matter what you say, it's her decision." Anna snapped and then turned away from him and walked over to Chloe. "Are you ready?"

"No." Chloe stood up. "But let's do this anyway."

"It's going to hurt." Anna warned her.

"Of course it is." Chloe groaned. "It always hurts. Not one thing that I've done the past six months has been prefaced with, 'This is going to feel like ecstasy'."

"Hey!" Dean protested and Chloe laughed.

"What do I have to do?" Chloe took a deep breath.

"Close your eyes." Anna told her. "You should be able to feel something right in the middle of your chest, like a warm pulsing light. Does that make any sense?"

"Yeah." Chloe nodded, her eyes closed. "I found it."

"Imagine yourself reaching down your throat, grabbing it in your fist and pulling it out as fast as you can." Anna said.

"Wait." Dean stepped forward and grabbed Chloe's neck, pulling her into a kiss that made her think thoughts she felt ashamed of, what with her being an Angel of the Lord.

When Dean pulled away it took Chloe a second to gather her wits enough to open her eyes. Dean was smiling at her and he rested his forehead against hers. "If you come back as someone else, promise you'll still come find me."

"I promise." Chloe nodded and tears sprung to her eyes.

"Unless you come back as a dude." Dean added to lighten the mood. It worked and Chloe laughed, her tears forgotten.

Sam stepped up and Chloe stood on her tip toes to give him a proper hug and a kiss on the cheek. "I'm gonna miss you most of all Scarecrow." Chloe whispered in his ear and Sam laughed pulling away. "Ok, let's get this show on the road."

"Actually." Dean looked over at Castiel who had been standing in the back of the chapel, silent. "Anna, why don't we do a quick perimeter check to make sure there aren't any Demons hanging around before we're one Angel short."

"Good idea." Anna nodded and Dean grabbed Sam's arm to pull him out of the church.

"Right." Chloe said. "I guess this is goodbye Tin Man." She smiled up at Castiel. "Oh don't cry, you'll rust so dreadfully." When he didn't crack a smile Chloe frowned. "It's a quote from…never mind." She took a deep breath. "So are you ready to take over the reins? Run the empire while I'm away? You were right about there being a lot of things to straighten out but I think if anyone can handle it you can." Still he didn't say a word. "Say something please." Chloe pleaded with him.

"You're really going to do this?" Castiel stepped forward. "There's nothing I can say to change your mind is there?"

"You've never been a human." Chloe frowned. "You wouldn't understand."

"Is it that much better?" He sat down in the front pew and looked up at the crucifix.

Chloe sat down next to him. "Yes." She answered automatically then paused. "No." She frowned. "It's not better, it's just different. Completely different."

"How?" Castiel asked and Chloe grunted. He might as well have been asking her to describe why a sunset was beautiful or how a particular piece of music made you feel. "It just is."

"That answers not good enough." Castiel turned to her.

"Nothing I could say would do it justice. But everything that you could imagine might just make it close." Chloe offered him.

"It's hard." Castiel said. "All I've seen from human's is pain."

"You can't mean that." Chloe frowned at him.

"Even the good things hurt you." Castiel shook his head. "When you were telling Sam and Dean about their parents, they were happy and yet they hurt."

"It's a good kind of hurt though." Chloe sighed. "Sometimes love hurts."

"I don't understand that." Castiel seemed dismayed.

Chloe grabbed his chin and forced him to look at her. "You wept for me." She reminded him. "You wept for me because you love me."

"I didn't like that." Castiel said truthfully. "You're becoming human so that you can cry?"

"No." Chloe said. "Yes, not just that though. We could sit here for centuries and I'd never be able to explain it to you."

"Let's test that theory." Castiel smiled and Chloe nudged his shoulder.

Chloe suddenly grabbed Castiel's hand, intertwining her fingers with his. He looked down at their hands and just stared from a minute. "This feels…" He searched for a word. "Different."

"Exactly." Chloe smiled. "That's the point."

"Humans are strange." Castiel said. "I fear I'll never understand you."

"Don't worry about it." Chloe assured him. "I'm pretty sure that we'll never understand ourselves either." Castiel just sat and continued to stare at their intertwined fingers. "You seem annoyed."

"I am annoyed." Castiel looked at her. "Because I think I'm going to miss you."

"Of course you're going to miss me." Chloe stood up and pulled Castiel to his feet. "I'm awesome." She reached up and kissed him on the cheek and he frowned as she pulled away, releasing his hand. "You can come in now." Chloe called out and Dean, Sam, and Anna popped around the corner.

"You ready?" Chloe nodded and closed her eyes. As much as she wanted this it was still scary and she almost backed out until she felt a strong hand take hers and squeeze. She opened her eyes and saw Dean smiling at her, encouraging her and she nodded. "There's no place like home." Chloe closed her eyes, reached down and grabbed the pulsing white light, ripping it from her body.

Anna wasn't kidding, the pain was so intense, so excruciating that she couldn't even scream. She opened her eyes and searched for Dean's face as her body pulsed with a white light. She found him, concentrated on his face, his eyes, until she couldn't see him anymore through the light. She suddenly had this sensation that she was falling, she was falling and there was nothing to catch her and then suddenly it was like she slammed into the ground at a million miles an hour. Then that was it, she didn't feel anything anymore.

* * *

Author's Note: Again some of the dialogue was taken straight from the wonderful writers of Supernatural. The conversation between Dean and Castiel and also Ruby's little speach about being the best. One more chapter left, what do you think? Does Chloe go back? Do they get thier happily ever after? You'll have to wait and see, also look forward to Deleted Scene: Chloe meets The Ghostfacers!


	9. Venus

* * *

Author's Note: Ok, here it is the last chapter. I know it took me a while but for some reason I was having a lot of trouble with this one. Hope you enjoy and in a few days if your interested the bonus chapter of Chloe meets the Ghostfacers will be put up. Untill then read and review.

* * *

When the light dissipated enough, Dean opened his eyes. He stared at the spot where minutes before Chloe had been standing. "Where is she?" He spun around a few times. "Cas, where the hell is she?"

"I told you that there were no guarantees." Castiel said sadly.

"What does that mean though?" Dean asked confused. "Where did she go? We've got to find her."

"She's gone." Anna whispered somewhat disappointed.

"No, she can't be gone." Dean shook his head. "She promised me that she wouldn't leave."

Castiel ignored Dean, instead his head was tilted to the side as if he was listening to something else entirely.

"Cas, man, give me something to go on here. I mean is she still in America? She didn't like go to Canada or something did she? She always mentioned she thought it would be neat to be Canadian. I'll still love her if she's Canadian."

"You won't find her." Someone appeared behind them and Sam and Dean turned suddenly.

"Who the hell are you?" Dean asked.

"No Raphael." Castiel moved to step forward.

"It is his will." Raphael said.

"What did you mean I won't find her?" Dean scoffed. "Why wouldn't I find her?"

"Because." Raphael paused and he made a face like he was almost sorry for what he was about to do. "You won't remember her." He reached out and put a hand on both Sam and Dean's forehead and they both disappeared.

"That is not what she meant." Castiel moved forward and Anna put a hand on his arm to stop him.

"Careful." She warned. Raphael was an Archangel and though Castiel now had more position, more power, he wasn't yet that powerful.

"She wished to go back to a normal life." Raphael said. "For her to have that, Sam and Dean could have no knowledge of her. They would seek her out, they would interfere with her wishes."

"That was not her wish." Castiel said.

"If she did not appreciate our gift it's not my fault."

"It wasn't a gift to her." Castiel said. "It was a consolation prize. Sorry we butted in and ruined your life, but here, have some wings."

"Castiel." Anna warned him.

"You question the will of the Lord?" Raphael was genuinely confused.

"There's a lot of that going around lately." Castiel said angrily.

"Don't lay your anger on me brother. I was never a part of Zachariah's plan."

"No but you let it happen." Castiel told him.

"I had to." Raphael explained. "Everything unfolded the way it was supposed to, even her part."

"If you had done your job and healed Dean then she wouldn't have had to have a part." Castiel pointed out.

"I couldn't." Raphael said. "Dean needed her just as much as he needed her powers. In some way, she needed him too."

"So you force them together then rip them apart? How is that a gift?" Castiel snapped. "Where is she?"

"There are far more important things to be done. You shouldn't worry about one selfish human." Raphael warned him.

"She wasn't selfish." Anna protested.

"No?" Raphael turned to Anna. "We give her an amazing gift. She could have been one of the greatest I've ever seen. She was supposed to lead us into the golden age. Instead she chose her own happiness and she left you with a clusterfuck to clean up."

"You know what Zachariah's problem was?" Castiel asked.

"Besides being a Megalomaniacal douche?" Anna asked.

"He stopped worrying about one human. If you stop worrying about one you stop worrying about all of them."

Raphael stared at Castiel for a second before nodding. "You make a good point." Raphael snapped his fingers and he and Castiel were someplace else. It looked like an apartment, a very colorful apartment.

"Where are we?" Castiel looked around.

"Chloe's apartment." Raphael said. "Smallville, Kansas."

"Where is she?" Castiel frowned.

Raphael nodded to the kitchen and Castiel walked around the island to see her on the ground in front of the stove. He immediately knelt down next to her and reached out to wake her up but Raphael stopped him. "She's fine, her body is acclimating."

"She'll wake up?" Castiel asked.

"In a few minutes." Raphael answered unconcerned.

"And the first thing she'll do is look for Dean." Castiel explained.

"She won't remember him." Raphael shook his head. "You've seen her, she's alive, she's more than well and we have pressing matters to attend to at home."

Castiel spared one last look at Chloe then stood up and nodded. Maybe Raphael was right. Maybe everything would be better this way. Maybe this was God's will. He allowed a smile to spread across his face. Then again, if Chloe had taught him anything it was to question authority. Raphael snapped his fingers again and they were gone.

* * *

The door to Chloe's apartment opened from the outside and a large basket piled high with ribbons and bows and tissue paper walked in, presumably followed by Lois. "Ok, why did we wait until the week before the wedding to do this?" She shoved the door closed behind her with her foot and dropped the basket on the table. "We're so screwed." She frowned and looked around the apartment. "Chloe?" Lois walked to the bedroom. "We said seven o'clock right?" Lois emerged from the bedroom confused and then saw Chloe on the ground in the kitchen. "Chloe?"

Lois ran over and slid to a stop next to her cousin. "Chloe, wake up." She lightly smacked her face and then filled a cup with water, splashing it on her cousin's face.

Chloe gasped and sputtered, surprising herself awake. "Lois?" She frowned. "Where am I?"

"Your apartment." Lois said helping her to her feet. "What happened?"

Chloe looked around confused and rubbed the back of her head. "I'm not sure. The last thing I remember is drinking a bottle of wine."

"Wow." Lois' eyes went wide. "That was last night. Did you forget to eat again today?"

"I don't know, I guess so." Chloe said, she had a feeling that she was forgetting something, that she was missing something but she couldn't remember what it was she'd forgotten. "That must be it." She shook off the feeling. "What is that?" She pointed to the basket.

"Wedding favors." Lois said and Chloe groaned. "It was your idea to wait."

"Right because every time I bring up the favors you don't run off on some fake lead for a story that never happens to make it to the paper." Chloe smirked at her and Lois groaned.

"Ok but…no that's all completely true." Lois smiled. "But somewhere in that basket is another bottle of wine so let's get this show on the road." Lois rubbed her hands together and Chloe grabbed a handful of tissue paper, ready to spend the night stuffing Jordan Almonds inside tiny gift bags.

Three hours and two bottles of wine later Chloe tied the last ribbon on the last box and dropped it on the counter. "Done." She collapsed against the table and noticed that Lois was frowning at her. "What's with the sour puss?"

"Are you happy?" Lois asked her.

"Am I happy?" Chloe frowned. "What kind of question is that?"

"It's just." Lois sighed and stood up, walking to the kitchen to get another bottle of wine. "It's been a hard year. Your first wedding was ruined before you even got to the vows. Jimmy broke up with you. It took you months to convince him to take you back and then planning yet another wedding, that's a lot of stress."

Chloe sighed and wracked her brain. Strangely enough she could remember each of these events. She remembered her ruined wedding, she remembered her and Jimmy breaking up vividly and felt the pain sharply. But the rest of it, convincing Jimmy to take her back, re-planning the wedding was sort of a blur. It was like when you see a picture of yourself at a birthday party when you're five, you think you remember but you only really remember the picture. The past few months felt like that. When she tried to recall getting Jimmy back she didn't remember the actual events so much as snap shots of the actual events. "I'm happy." She said with a frown.

"That's very convincing." Lois poured Chloe another cup of wine.

"I fell like I'm supposed to be happy." Chloe offered then realized that didn't sound any better.

"You remember what happy feels like right?" Lois asked her. "I mean you're not confusing happiness with like unhappiness?"

"I know what happiness feels like." Chloe scoffed.

"Really?" Lois challenged her. "When was the last time you remember being happy? Truly happy? I'm talking can't wipe the stupid grin off my face and my cheeks are starting to hurt happy."

Chloe thought for a minute then her face broke into a grin. "My birthday." She said as she let herself sink into the memory. "We went to the Kitt Observatory just outside of Tucson."

"When was this?" Lois asked. "And who is we?"

Chloe froze. "Jimmy of course, just a few months ago."

"You and Jimmy have never been to Tucson." Lois said. "Seriously are you ok?"

Chloe shook her head. "When he found out it was my birthday we drove all night to get there."

"You spent your birthday at the Ace of Clubs." Lois reminded her. "Remember Oliver hired the whole place for the night. I was stuck on a story, Clark never showed, but big surprise huh. It's when Jimmy proposed again. There was that crazy magician lady."

"No." Chloe told her. "We went to Arizona. I remember it."

"You might have gone to Arizona, but it wasn't this year, and it wasn't with Jimmy." Lois finished off her glass and poured another.

"You're right." Chloe shook her head. "I don't know what I was thinking." But she couldn't shake the feeling that she had gone to Arizona, and it had been just a few months ago.

"Ok, fine, I'm not going to push it tonight." Lois said. "But I am going to crash on your bed cause I'm way too drunk to drive home."

"No problem. I'll take the couch." Chloe smiled and grabbed a blanket and pillow from the closet and walked over to the couch, dropped them and sat down. She needed to clean up the kitchen and change into some night clothes but she was suddenly so very tired.

"_You're seriously not going to tell me where we're going?" Chloe pouted from the backseat. _

"_You weren't going to tell us it was your birthday." Dean pointed out. _

"_How did you know anyway?" Chloe frowned. _

"_You're not the only one who's good at research." Sam said from the passenger's seat. _

_Chloe frowned. "What? Did you look up my police record?"_

"_You have a police record?" Dean asked surprised. _

"_Oh I know you Goggled me and found my obituary?" Chloe said._

"_You have an obituary?" Dean turned around this time. _

"_Like you don't have your fair share?" She smirked at him. _

"_Only two." He shrugged and went back to driving._

"_Seriously how'd you find out it was my birthday." Chloe asked annoyed. _

"_It wasn't easy." Sam said. "It took a lot of research, a lot of man hours, I tried every government and private sector database and you're files have been locked by Homeland Security." Chloe smiled, they weren't really, she locked them and made it look like it was Homeland Security "So…" _

"_He stole your wallet and looked at your license." Dean snorted. _

"_God Sammy." Chloe tilted her head in his direction. "That's slightly pathetic." _

"_Almost there." Dean said. _

"_You know." Chloe frowned as they turned onto a dirt road. "There's more important things we could be doing right now then traipsing around the country for my birthday." _

"_Like what?" Dean smiled. _

"_Oh I don't know." Chloe sighed. "Angel's, Demons, the coming apocalypse."_

"_What's the use fighting for the fate of the world if you can't enjoy it every now and then?" Sam asked as Dean parked the car. _

"_And here we are." He turned it off and pulled out the keys. _

"_Where exactly is here?" Chloe asked and Dean opened the door, letting her out. _

"_You'll see." He grabbed her hand and she got out of the car frowning. There was a large building in front of them and it was completely deserted. _

"_It's three in the morning." Chloe said. "It's not going to be open."_

"_When has that ever mattered to us?" Sam scoffed. _

_  
"We're breaking in?" Chloe smiled, slightly excited. _

"_Only the best for you." Dean said. He led her up a path and when they got to a door a man was standing there. "Hey Mike." Dean reached forward and shook hands with him. _

"_Dean, Sam." He yawned. _

"_Thanks for doing this man." Dean said as Mike pulled keys out of his pocket. _

"_This is what you call breaking in?" Chloe crossed her arms over her chest. "Did you drag this poor guy out of bed for this?" _

"_I owe these guys my life." Mike looked over at her. "Coming out here at three in the morning hardly makes up for what they did for me." Mike opened the door._

"_Happy Birthday." Dean motioned for her to enter and she did gasping and turning around. _

"_Are you serious?" She practically squealed and then ran forward. _

"_Told you she'd like it." Dean smirked and Sam and followed her. _

"_So we've got two hours before the morning crew comes in." Mike walked in after them. "You want me to show you how to work it?"  
_

_Chloe stared up in awe at the huge telescope and then turned to Mike nodding mutely. He led Chloe up the steps and let her open up the dome roof. Then showed her how to move the telescope around. "This is amazing." She turned to Dean. "You've got to come up here and see this."_

Chloe opened up her eyes to the smell of coffee and Lois' smiling face. "Good dream?" Her eyes twinkled with laughter.

"Huh?" Chloe sat up and grabbed the cup of coffee. "What are you talking about?"

"You had the biggest smile on your face." Lois pushed her over and sat down on the couch next to her. "Jimmy?"

"No." Chloe tried to remember what the dream was about. It was slipping away from her but she knew it wasn't about Jimmy.

"Oh better." Lois said. "Brad Pitt? No, wait, David Beckham in the soccer shorts all shirtless and sweaty, or from the underwear ads?" Lois let out a shaky breath.

Chloe smirked over at her. "You need a minute?"

"I'm good." Lois said. "So spill."

"I can't remember." Chloe stood up and stretched.

"Huh, is "can't remember" code for I'm not telling?" Lois gasped and jumped up after Chloe. "It was Oliver wasn't it? It's ok you can tell me. We broke up like two years ago and you do work with him a lot and he's pretty hot."

"God, it wasn't about Oliver." Chloe opened the fridge and pulled out some milk. "You staying for breakfast?"

"No I've got to get to the office." Lois finished her coffee and set the mug on the table. "Final dress fitting at four don't be late."

"I know." Chloe called after her.

* * *

Dean shot up in bed and looked around confused. "Sammy?" He climbed out and breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the lump in the bed next to him start to stir. The events of the past few days came crashing down on him like a ton of bricks and he remembered it was over.

"How did we get here?" Sam asked.

"I don't know." Dean looked around the room he didn't remember getting. "Cas I guess?"

"I guess." Sam climbed out of bed and frowned, something was off, something felt wrong. "Do you…"

"Yeah." Dean got up and pulled back the curtains. The Impala was sitting in the parking lot. He turned around, there were two bags on the table, one for him and one for Sam but still something was missing. "Did we forget to do something?"

"I don't know." Sam got out of the bed and grabbed some pants. "I don't remember getting undressed so that's a little strange."

"That's not what I'm talking about." Dean said. "But yeah that is slightly creepy. There's something I should be doing, something I should be…looking for I think."

"Something you should be looking for?" Sam sat down. "Like what? We stopped Lilith, we stopped the seals. For the first time in a long time we don't have anything to do at all. We could go to the Grand Canyon, we could go to the beach."

"We could go to Disney World." Dean smirked.

Sam frowned. "You want to go to Disney World?"

"No, it's just that thing that people say you know." Dean told him. "You just saved the world from apocalypse what are you going to do? Go to Disney World." Sam still stared at him. "Never mind."

"So what do you want to do?" Sam said. "I mean seriously we could do whatever we want."

"I'm telling you Sam there's something I'm supposed to be doing."

"I think you just want a quest." Sam smiled at him.

"What are you talking about a quest?" Dean asked.

"I'm talking about for the past four years you've always had something to do. You had to find Dad, then you had to stop Azazel, then you were trying to get out of your deal, then it was this whole seal thing." Sam said. "Now there's nothing to do, there's no deadline, there's no danger looming on the horizon so you've invented something in your head that you think you need to do because there's nothing else you know how to do."

"Huh." Dean frowned. "That actually makes sense."

"So." Sam said. "The Grand Canyon?"

"It's just a big hole the ground yeah? I think we can come up with something better than that." Dean said.

"What are you thinking?" Sam smiled slightly.

"Vegas baby."

Sam laughed. "Don't call me baby again."

"Yeah as soon as it came out I knew it was wrong." Dean shivered slightly.

"I'll shower and we can go." Sam walked to the bathroom.

Dean tried to stuff the rest of his things in his bag but for some reason they wouldn't fit. He glared and dumped the bag upside down. Dirty shirts and underwear fell to the bed followed by two very clunky boots. Dean frowned and grabbed them. They were black leather with two inch heels, definitely not Sam's, not Dean's. "What the hell?" Dean studied the boots and frowned when the heel on one of the shoes flipped back, hanging on by a thread.

"They were hers." A voice said to him. Dean looked up to see Castiel standing in front of him. "Do you remember?"

"They were whose?" Dean dropped the boots to the floor. "Do I remember what?"

Castiel seemed to frown. "I thought it would be enough seeing something of hers."

"Something of whose?" Dean stood up. "What's going on here Cas?" Castiel didn't say anything. "Something is going on here though. Sam thinks I just need a quest but something's going on here. Did I lose something?"

Castiel looked at Dean sadly and shook his head. "Someone." He answered quietly. "You lost someone."

"I lost…" Dean looked to the bathroom door, he could hear the shower running. "Sam's right there Cas, he's the only one I have left? Who else is there to lose?"

"Her name was Chloe." Castiel said.

"Chloe?" Dean frowned touching the boot, the ghost of a giggle floated in his head. He closed his eyes and remembered a shot of short blonde hair, a somewhat annoyed smile. "Chloe…" Dean said slowly remembering her.

"_Seriously?" Chloe slid down the side of the rocky hill, grabbing onto a protruding branch to keep herself from falling the hundred feet to the rapids below them. _

"_I told you it would be ok if you waited in the car." Dean looked back up at her, he was slightly further down the hill side than she was. _

"_And miss out on all the grave digging body burning fun?" Chloe took a few more steps down until she reached the small plateau that Dean was standing on. He smiled and passed her a shovel and she looked it at strangely for a second before taking it from him and sticking it in the dirt. After digging about five feet Chloe pulled herself up to sit on the edge of the hole they'd dug. _

"_You done?" Dean smirked at her. _

"_Just resting." Chloe panted. "You're doing good, keep going." She looked down at her hands which were covered in blisters. She opened her bottle of water and dumped it on her hands, cleaning them as best she could. She winced as the dirt fell into some of the open sores and Dean dropped his shovel and climbed up next to her. _

"_Here, let me see." Dean grabbed her hands. He reached into the bag next to him and pulled out a rag, tearing it into strips and wrapping them around her blisters. "So are you rethinking this whole thing yet?" He looked up at her. _

"_Are you kidding me? This is the life." She flexed her fingers after Dean finished wrapping them. "Different motel every night, danger around every corner, running for my life from Angels and demons alike, oh yeah and making sure you don't get yourself killed. It's awesome." _

_Dean laughed. "I'm not so bad right?" He dropped back into the hole and finished digging. _

"_You're a treat." Chloe rolled her eyes at him. _

"_What would you be doing right now?" He asked her. "If it weren't for the Angel radio on 24-7 in your head?" _

"_I'd still be in Smallville, living above the Talon." She brushed the bangs out of her face. "Working at Isis, helping out Oliver every now and then I guess." _

"_Sounds…" Dean dug the shovel into the ground. "Really boring." _

"_Actually it is." Chloe said. "If you don't count the random meteor infected freak terrorizing the city, it's a very boring life." _

_Dean stuck the shovel back in the ground and hit something solid. "Coffin." He smiled. "Get the Salt and lighter fluid out." _

_Chloe nodded and grabbed for the bag. "See, in my old life, we never got to dig up graves." Dean tore the lid off the box and climbed up as Chloe salted the bones. She turned and reached for the lighter fluid when she was shoved off balance by a strong wind and tumbled toward the edge of the plateau. _

"_Chloe!" Dean scrambled toward her but was thrown off balance as a ghost appeared in front of him and shoved him in the other direction. _

_When Dean caught his bearings he saw Chloe holding tight to the edge of the cliff as the ghost hovered over her. Dean grabbed the shotgun, cocked it and fired. The ghost dissipated and Dean grabbed Chloe's hands just as she lost her grip. "I got you." He pulled her back up and she stumbled to her feet, a glare on her face. Dean grabbed for the matches and Chloe took them from him. _

"_Allow me." She said annoyed. She struck a match and dropped it on top of the bones. "These were my favorite boots bitch." Chloe leaned on Dean as the bones burst into flames and stripped off her shoes. He looked down and noticed the heel on one of them was broken now. _

"_How do you plan on getting back up there with one shoe?" Dean asked, an amused smile on his face. _

"_Shut up." Chloe just glared at him. _

"_Come on." Dean hoisted the bag on his shoulder then grabbed Chloe and tossed her over too in a fireman's carry._

"_Dean!" Chloe screamed in surprise. _

"_What?" Dean asked her. "You're going to walk?" He grabbed onto a vine and pulled him and Chloe up the hill. "I'm the one doing all the work here anyway." He grunted._

"_The views not bad I suppose." Chloe conceited. _

_  
Dean frowned, the view was a crumbling cliff and a tangle of overgrown plants. Then he thought about Chloe's view and he froze. "Are you looking at my ass?" _

"_What else can I look at from here?" Chloe asked. "You could bounce a nickel off that." She reached down and smacked him._

"_Don't objectify me." Dean said to her over his shoulder and she laughed._

_  
_"You son of a bitch." Dean was up and off the bed in a second, slamming Castiel against the wall. "Where is she? What did you do to her?"

"I didn't do anything." Castiel shrugged and released himself from Dean's grip. "It was Raphael. He sent her back to her regular life, to her real life."

"This was her real life." Dean screamed.

"It wasn't Dean." Castiel said. "We interrupted her real life. She doesn't remember anything, she doesn't remember you, she doesn't remember Sam, she doesn't remember…me."

"And that makes it all better?" Dean glared at him.

"It makes it easier." Castiel explained.

"What about free will?" Dean said. "Isn't this whole thing, life, everything about free will? Choices? Where's her choice in all this?"

"She's back at her job, with her cousin. She's getting married in a week."

"Married?" Dean deflated and fell to the bed.

"To Jimmy. They talked about their problems, worked everything out." Castiel said. "Or at least they think they did."

"They're getting married?" Dean said. "In a week?" Cas nodded. "Yeah that's not gonna happen." Dean turned back to his bag. "Sammy haul ass, we're hitting the road."

Sam walked out of the bathroom, not at all surprised to find Castiel standing there. "Where are we going? Vegas?"

"Kansas, Smallville." Dean said. "Get dressed let's go."

"What? What's in Smallville?" Sam grabbed a shirt and pulled it on.

"Chloe." Dean walked out of the room and Sam turned to Castiel.

"Who the hell is Chloe?" Sam frowned and Castiel just smiled and vanished.

* * *

"Hey! Shelia." Chloe leaned over the counter of the Talon and grabbed a cup then walked around.

"I've got a fresh pot started if you have five minutes." Shelia said.

"Oh you are on. I have a full day of centerpieces to ok and place settings to finalize and then the rehearsal dinner." Chloe leaned against the counter.

"How about this." Shelia smiled at her. "If you watch the counter for me while I take five minutes to make a phone call I'll give you a free double shot."

Chloe checked her watch and weighed being five minutes late to a free double shot. "Sold." Chloe grabbed an apron and Shelia walked outside. She reached under the counter and opened the small fridge, checking to make sure no one was watching then grabbing the bottle of whipped cream. She shook it up, turned around, and squirted a mouthful in.

"Excuse me." Chloe turned around and put a hand over her mouth, trying to hide the fact that it was full of whipped cream.

She swallowed hard and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, can I get you something?"

"Cup of coffee please." The man smiled.

"Oh the pot is still brewing, do you have a minute?" Chloe asked.

"I've got two." He sat at the bar and Chloe frowned. He was wearing a regular suit and tie with trench coat, nothing spectacular, but something about him was familiar to her.

"You look kind of familiar." She grabbed a cup and put a collar on it. "You work around here?"

"Just passing through." He shook his head.

Chloe squinted at him and leaned against the counter. "You pass through often?" He shook his head and smiled. "I swear I know you from somewhere."

"You get up to Illinois at all?" He asked her.

"Never." She sighed.

"That's where I'm from." He shrugged.

"You're voice is…" She stopped, unable to describe it exactly. It was like warm caramel gliding slowly down a crystal goblet, but she wasn't about to say that to a man she just met. "Do you work in radio?"

"Actually I do." He laughed. "But not on the air. I sell add space."

"Huh." The coffee machine beeped and Chloe turned to fix his cup. She put a lid on it then rang it up. "A dollar twenty five."

The man reached in his pocket and passed her two dollars. "Keep the change."

"Thanks." Chloe smiled dropping three quarters in the tip jar for Shelia. "It was nice to meet you…"

"Jimmy." He shook her hand. "Jimmy Novak."

"Chloe Sullivan." She shook his hand frowning. That name sounded so familiar. Novak, she'd worked with a Novak before but she couldn't remember when. The man walked out of the coffee shop and Shelia tapped Chloe on the shoulder.

"Hey you zoned out a bit." Shelia said. "So double shot?"

"I gotta go." Chloe tore the apron off and walked to the door.

* * *

"Chloe?" Oliver walked into the Isis Foundation.

"I'm in the back." Chloe called out and Oliver walked in the room surprised to see her desk completely covered in something other than wedding plans.

"What's going on?" He grabbed a page and studied it, it was a birth certificate for someone named Emily Parker. Chloe wasn't paying attention to him and he snapped his fingers. "Hey, Chloe, you called me remember?"

"Right, hi." She lifted her head up. "Thanks for coming."

"No problem, aren't you supposed to be at your rehearsal dinner?" He sat down.

"I've got some time." Chloe shrugged it off. "Who the hell are Emily and Stephanie Parker?"

"No idea." Oliver shrugged. "Who are Emily and Stephanie Parker?"

"I don't know." Chloe said. "But I created them." She pointed to the papers.

"What?" Oliver frowned.

"I created them from scratch, from social security numbers to birth certificates, to credit history, school transcripts, a freaking mySpace page. It's all there, it's all fake, and it's got my fingerprints all over it." Chloe said.

"Ok." Oliver frowned. "Not sure I can help you here, what makes you think I would know?"

"Because you gave them over six hundred thousand dollars." Chloe passed him a file that had a bank transfer request with Oliver's signature on it. "You bought them the house they're living in in Key West." Chloe gave him another file with a mortgage note in it. "And JL Industries is monitoring their home security system."

Oliver studied all the evidence in front of him. "Look, I don't know why we can't remember them, I don't know who they are, or where they come from or why I'm funding their brand new life. I know I do what you tell me to do, I know that I trust you, and I know that even if you don't remember everything you do, you do it for a reason." He dropped the files. "I also know we aren't going to solve this mystery today and you have a rehearsal dinner that we're both supposed to be at right now."

"I know." Chloe sighed, running her fingers through her hair. "And I missed all the other wedding stuff today so Lois is going to be pissed as it is."

"You're not having second thoughts are you?" Oliver asked. "This whole wedding thing take two? You're positive?"

"Oliver." Chloe looked up at him.

"I'm just saying, you're obsessing over this thing instead of your wedding, maybe there's a reason for that." Oliver shrugged.

"I'm good." Chloe stood up. "And if I'm not, you'll be the first to know."

"Great." Oliver said. "Because I've been working on a modification of Contingency plan Alpha." Chloe just laughed and shook her head. "Come on, I'll give you a ride." He smiled and Chloe grabbed her bag, leaving the mystery of Emily and Stephanie Parker behind.

* * *

Dean drove down Smallvile's main street and stopped across from the Talon. "You really have no idea who I'm talking about?" Dean parked the car and turned to Sam.

"Dude, I don't know a Chloe, I've never met a Chloe. I don't remember anything you've told me happening at all." Sam shook his head, wondering if everything that had happened the past few months had driven his brother insane.

"I'm not crazy Sammy." Dean sighed. "Chloe is real, she exists."

"Ok." Sam humored him. "She exists. If everything you say is true, why didn't she come find us?"

"She doesn't remember me or you. She doesn't remember anything about the past six months. She's in that building and she's getting married tomorrow and we have to stop it."

"And why do we have to stop her wedding?" Sam said. "From what I can tell she's happy. She's got a normal life, she's a normal girl and she's getting married." He turned to Dean. "You've got to give me a reason why we're about to storm in there and ruin all that."

Dean was silent for a minute then turned to his brother. "Because I love her."

"Ok then." Sam grabbed his door handle and got out of the car. Dean got out the other side and right as they were about to cross the street a car sped by, pulling up right in front of the Talon and parking. Dean put a hand on Sam's arm and they stopped.

"Wait a minute." Dean whispered, recognizing that car as Oliver's. Sure enough Oliver climbed out of the driver's side and walked over to the passenger's side opening the door and holding out his hand. Dean saw a head full of blonde hair and his breath caught in his throat as Chloe climbed out the car with a smile on her face.

"Chloe?" Sam frowned whispering and Dean turned to his brother as simply seeing her brought all the memories crashing back into his brain.

"_Hey." Chloe sat a beer down in front of Sam. "Couldn't sleep?"_

_Sam looked up at her and smiled then frowned. "What are you doing here?" He looked around. "Where's Dean?"_

"_Sleeping." Chloe sipped her own beer and motioned for Sam to do the same. "What's up?" _

"_Nothing." Sam brushed her off. "Just not tired." _

"_Lie." Chloe smirked at him and sipped her beer again. "Come on you're talking to a former reporter here. Not only that my best friend lied to me for years about his true identity so try again." Sam smiled at her. "I'm a great listener." She nudged his shoulder and he leaned back in his chair and started picking at the label on his bottle. _

"_What happens if we can't do it?" Sam whispered. "If we can't stop Lilith from opening the seals?" _

_Chloe tilted her head slightly. "You really want to know what happens if you can't do it?" She stared at him, forcing his eyes to meet hers. "If you can't stop Lilith, can't save Dean, again." _

"_Yeah." Sam said. _

"_I could tell you that everything will be fine. That good will win out over evil, that we'll all survive." Chloe sighed. "But we both know that's a lie. If we can't stop her, Lucifer rises, the demons have a leader, the ultimate leader and the war starts." _

"_Wow don't sugar coat it." Sam chuckled. _

"_You don't need me to sugar coat it. You got Dean to do that for you. They'll be a fight, it'll be bloody and we'll lose a lot of people." She took another sip of her beer. "But we'll fight. Chances are we'll die but what a way to go huh?" She drained the rest of her beer and slapped the empty bottle on the table._

_Sam looked over at her and then started laughing. Once he started he couldn't stop and soon Chloe had joined in with him. "You're round." She motioned to her empty beer bottle. _

"_Sure." Sam stood up and walked to the bar only to have Chloe grab his arm. The look on her face sobered him up instantly and he swallowed hard. _

"_You're not alone anymore Sam. I'm here and I'm not going to let anything happen to Dean, or you." Chloe assured him. _

_He just nodded at her and walked to the bar. Three hours and far too many beers to count later they stumbled back to the motel singing rather loudly and off key. "So bye bye Miss American Pie, drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry. Them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye, singing this will be the day that I die." They burst into laughter again as they finished the song and stumbled to a halt in front of Sam's door. _

"_Where's my key?" Sam patted his pockets. _

"_I don't know." Chloe shrugged. "Did you check your pocket?" _

_Sam glared at her but couldn't keep the face for long and started laughing again. "Do you have your key?" _

_Chloe dug into her pocket and brandished her key as if it were the holy grail. She moved Sam out of the way and tried her key but it didn't work. She tried it a few more times and grunted when it still didn't work. "Well crap. What are we supposed to do now?" Chloe leaned against the door and dropped to the ground._

"_I don't know." Sam followed her and sighed. "We could sleep here." _

"_Outside?" _

"_Sure, the pioneers did it all the time." Sam shrugged. _

_  
"We're not pioneers." Chloe reminded him. _

"_Right." Sam let out a breath. He was about to offer an alternative solution when the door opened and he and Chloe fell backwards into the room. They looked up to see Dean staring down at them. _

"_You could maybe not stay out drinking until four in the morning." Dean offered as a solution. _

"_He looks pissed." Sam stage whispered. _

"_And upside down." Chloe laughed. "You think he's pissed because he's upside down?" _

_This caused another round of giggles and Dean rolled his eyes and reached down to drag Chloe to her feet. "All right, last call, end of the line." Dean supported Chloe. "You get to bed, I'm going to take her to her room." _

"_That's why my key didn't work." Chloe smiled. _

"_Wow, you lose like all brain function after you've had a few beers huh?" Dean asked her. _

_  
"And you lose all of your sense of humor after I've had a few beers." Chloe leaned against his side and Sam crawled into his room. _

Sam blinked and brought himself back to the present as the doors to the Talon opened and a group of people walked out. Lois started to scold Chloe but Oliver jumped in and then Lois was yelling at Oliver. Clark leaned over and kissed Chloe's cheek as another guy walked out pointing to his watch. Chloe's face lit up as she apologized and kissed the new guy, who had to be Jimmy, and slipped her arm in his. "Come on."

"Wait." Dean said, his voice horse.

"I remember now Dean." Sam said. "I remember everything."

"I know." Dean leaned against the car. "Does she look happy to you?"

"She looks like she doesn't remember the past six months." Sam said. "Let's go."

"What's so wrong about not remembering?" Dean asked him. "If I could forget all that stuff I would in a heartbeat."

"What are you talking about?" Sam frowned at him. "This is Chloe, this is the girl that went to hell and back for us are we just going to let this happen?"

"It's happened." Dean turned to Sam. "And you said it yourself. She went to hell and back, my hell. I love her so much and I'm not going to be the one that reminds her what that was like. I know because I live with it every day, and if losing her means she doesn't have to, it's worth it."

"But…" Sam turned from his brother to Chloe who was laughing as Oliver lifted Lois up and tossed her over his shoulder. She did look happy. "Are you sure?"

"No." Dean shook his head but walked to the other side of the car and climbed in anyway.

Sam sighed and climbed in after Dean as the car started up and peeled off down the street.

* * *

Oliver helped Chloe out of the car and helped Chloe out. Before she could even close the door, Lois had stormed out of the Talon. "Where the hell have you been? I had to finalize the centerpieces and the place settings because you never showed so if you don't like them it's your own fault."

"It's my fault actually." Oliver jumped in front of Chloe. "I had something urgent for her to do and it took longer than I thought it would."

"Idiot." Lois turned on him and Chloe smiled at Clark.

"Hey." Clark kissed her cheek. "You doing ok?"

"I think so." Chloe nodded.

Jimmy walked out of the Talon pointing to his watch. "You're late."

"I know." Chloe said. "But I'm here now." She kissed him softly and he slipped his arm in hers. They heard a squeal and turned to see Oliver tossing Lois over his shoulder and heading in the building.

"The food's all here, we're just waiting on you." Jimmy said but Chloe wasn't listening. She heard the purr of a perfectly tuned engine and turned her head in time to see a mint condition black 1967 Chevy Impala drive past her. She stopped for a second frowning until Jimmy pulled her inside.

Oliver had dropped Lois to the ground and she ran over to Chloe. "Do you have your computer? We need to set up the slide show."

"Right." Chloe patted her shoulder bag and walked to the back with Lois.

"You could just give it to me." Lois reminded her.

"No one touches my baby." Chloe pulled the computer out of her bag and started it up.

"You are far too attached to that computer." Lois stared at her. "If you had to choose Jimmy or the computer you would totally choose the computer."

"It's a really awesome computer." Chloe countered as she tried to open the file that had the slideshow. Instead of pictures of Jimmy and Chloe set to some sappy love song, another video all together started playing.

"Who the hell are those guys?" Lois leaned forward.

"_We know why you're watching." The first guy said._

"_You've got a problem." The second one added._

"_A ghost problem." The first guy said._

"_A ghost related problem, like a ghost adjacent, its like a problem and the ghost…" _

Chloe laughed. "I don't know." She sat back and watched as these two guys started talking about killing ghosts.

"_Next little trick, we learnt this from those…useless douchebags." The first guy groaned_

"_That we hate." The second guy butted in._

"_The Winchesters." The first guy glared._

Chloe instantly stopped laughing, the bottom dropping out of her stomach. Something in her head twitched when he said Winchesters. "Ok, enough of that." Lois reached over and closed the screen and Chloe gasped.

"Wait." She opened the file again but this time the slide show started playing.

"There." Lois smiled. "Let's go get some food."

Chloe frowned and kept trying to recall the video with no success. She had no idea how it played, where it had come from but she knew the name Winchester. Lois came back and dragged her to the dining room and she sat at the head table next to Jimmy. She laughed when the toasts were given, smiled when she was supposed to and teared up when she was supposed to but the whole night something seemed off.

She begged off after hours drinks with the excuse that she was getting married the next day and went back up to her apartment. The past few days she knew something was off and slowly things were adding up. Emily and Stephanie Parker, being convinced that she'd gone to the observatory for her birthday, the name Winchester causing such a reaction. She sat down on her couch and stared at the door, hoping that it would give her the answers that she wanted. "You're killing me here you know that?" She turned to the left and jumped up screaming. The man from the coffee shop earlier was sitting on her couch. Jimmy Novak.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Chloe reached for something anything that she could use as a weapon.

"I've been hoping you'd remember." He stood up and walked over to her as she picked up a spatula from the kitchen counter.

"Stay back, I'm calling the police." She looked around but couldn't find a phone.

"I gave you the dream of going to the observatory with Dean for your birthday. I showed up at the coffee house, led you to the Novak's. I even put that stupid Ghostfacers movie on your computer."

"You did that?" Chloe dropped the spatula for a second then shook her head. "I mean what are you talking about?"

"I can't make you remember." He took a step closer and Chloe took a step back. "If I could I would trust me but I can't override Raphael's work. I can only nudge you in the right direction and hope it triggers something. But nothing I do seems to work."

"I do know you don't I?" Chloe asked scared and he nodded. "Who are you really?"

"My name is Castiel." He said and the lights flickered in Chloe's apartment and then flashed bright, illuminating what looked like wings behind his back as he took another step closer and Chloe took a step back, falling to her bed.

"Holy shit." Chloe dropped the spatula as she remembered. She remembered the voices, finding Castiel, healing Castiel, Dean and Sam, Pamela, Jimmy. Tears rolled down her face as all the memories tried to force themselves into her head and she slid off the bed and onto the floor. She remembered healing Dean and then dying, John and Mary and all the others and then coming back. She remembered stopping Lilith, saving Sam and then ripping out her Grace and then she remembered the pain.

"Chloe?" Castiel sat down on the ground next to her and she turned to him numbly. "Are you ok?"

"No." She said faintly. Castiel frowned and she shook her head. "No, I'm fine, I'm ok." She forced herself to concentrate on her breathing, evening it out. "What am I doing here?"

Castiel explained to her that they were trying to give her what they thought she wanted, a normal life. "That's not what I meant." Chloe scoffed. "You guys just keep missing the mark huh?"

"No one's perfect." Castiel smiled wryly at her and she laughed.

"But I don't understand." Chloe shook her head. "Why didn't Dean come get me?"

"He didn't remember at first." Castiel told her.

"But he does now?" Chloe frowned. "Then why…"

"He thinks you're happy." Castiel said. "He thinks this is what you want."

"So he's not coming?" Chloe whispered. "He's just…what am I supposed to do now?"

Castiel stood up. "There's a wedding tomorrow." He looked over at the wedding dress hanging up on the back of the bathroom door. "You can go to that, or you can go here." He pulled a key card out of his pocket and set it on the kitchen table. "It's up to you." He said before vanishing.

Chloe wasn't sure how long she sat there on the ground, leaning up against the bed as she looked between the key card and dress.

* * *

Lois was pacing back and forth in Clark's bedroom the phone to her ear. "Anything?" Oliver poked his head in the door.

"She's not answering." Lois said. "Do you think she made a run for it?"

"Nah, she would have called." Oliver pulled out his phone to check his messages.

"She would have called?" Lois asked skeptically. "You? If she was planning on ditching her wedding she would have called you of all people?"

"Me and Chloe are like this." Oliver held up two fingers and crossed them.

"Ok, but I think she'd have called me, her cousin, before calling you, her sometimes boss, sometimes friend." Lois scoffed.

"I would have called Lois first." Chloe walked into the room, hauling the heavy dress bag over her shoulder. Lois smirked at Oliver. "Then Oliver." Oliver smirked right back at Lois. "Sorry I'm late."

"It's ok." Lois shooed Oliver out of the room as Chloe started to undress. "You ready?"

Chloe thought back to the key card lying on the table in her apartment and sighed. "Yeah, I'm ready." She deserved a normal life, and if Dean didn't want her then she wasn't going to go crawling to him and miss her one chance. She unzipped the dress bag and sighed.

The music was playing, the ground under her feet had been sprinkled with rose petals and Lois was standing at the front of the barn smiling manically at her. Everything was perfect until Chloe turned her attention to the end of the aisle at Jimmy and she just didn't see it.

She didn't see the happily ever after, she didn't see the house, she didn't see the kids. She didn't see the Christmas' and Thanksgivings with the JLA around the table being too loud and completely immature because Jimmy didn't know about the JLA. She didn't see 'til death did them part, she didn't see a life.

Yes she did deserve a normal life but she deserved the normal life that she wanted, not the normal life that was thrust upon her. "Chloe?" Clark looked down at her confused. "We're not actually there yet." She had stopped without even realizing it.

"I can't do this." Chloe said to him.

"What?" Clark's eyes went wide. "Are you serious?"

"I can't do this Clark I need you to get me out of here." Chloe's grip tightened on his arm.

"Ok." He looked over at Lois who was glaring at him. He shrugged and steered Chloe in the other direction as the music ground to halt and Lois hurried up the aisle.

"We appear to have a wardrobe malfunction folks, just give me a minute for emergency alterations." Lois smiled and headed to the barn doors. "What the hell is going on here?" She walked outside.

"I can't do this, I can't marry Jimmy." Chloe shook her head violently.

"Oh thank God." Lois sunk like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

"Lois." Clark snapped at her then turned to Chloe. "What do you mean you can't marry Jimmy?"

"I mean I can't marry him, I don't love him, I can't do this." Chloe shook her head.

"Great, seven months too late if you ask me but great none the less." Lois said.

"Jesus Lois a little tact please." Clark said.

"What do you want me to say Clark?" Lois asked him. "You know this whole thing is wrong. She had to beg him to take her back? Chloe doesn't beg, not a guy like Jimmy Olsen."

"Lois is right about one thing." Clark pointed out. "You begged him to take you back, you're the one who wanted this, now suddenly you don't love him?"

"I don't have time to explain it to you." Chloe said.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Oliver stuck his head through the door. "The natives and the groom are getting restless."

"Could you maybe ask Jimmy to come out?" Chloe asked sheepishly.

Oliver raised his eyebrows. "Are we going to contingency plan Alpha?"

"It's not that serious." Chloe smiled at him and Oliver closed the door.

"Contingency plan Alpha?" Clark asked.

"Oh that was Oliver's plan for getting me out of the country if the wedding didn't happen." Chloe explained.

"See." Lois poked Clark in the chest. "Even Oliver doesn't think Chloe and Jimmy should get married."

"Are you ok?" Jimmy walked outside. "The dress looks fine to me."

Chloe stared at Lois until Clark grabbed her arm and pulled her away. "Jimmy, look, you are a great guy..."

"I have a feeling I know the rest of this speech." Jimmy took a step back. "I gave the rest of this speech to you just seven months ago."

"I know." Chloe frowned at him.

"You're the one who wanted this." Jimmy told her. "You begged me to take you back, promised things would be different, you wanted this wedding."

"Except for that fact that none of that actually happened, you are completely right, I am a horrible person, but this isn't the future that either of us should have and you know it. You knew it seven months ago."

"So you're seriously walking out on me here?" Jimmy asked.

Chloe nodded. "I'm so sorry." She stared to walk away.

"You're literally walking out on me?" Jimmy laughed.

"I've got somewhere I need to be and maybe one day if you don't hate me too much I'll explain it all to you." Chloe started to run down the street.

Lois walked over and frowned when she saw Jimmy alone and Chloe jogging toward town. "Where is she going?"

"I obviously don't know anything about her." Jimmy threw his hands in the air and Clark and Lois took off after Chloe.

More people slowly emerged from the church and Victor frowned as Lois and Clark ran after Chloe. "You know what's going on here?" He asked Oliver.

"No clue." Oliver shrugged. "Come on, let's find out." They set off and headed toward Lois and Clark who were headed toward Chloe.

"I get cancelling the wedding." Lois said having caught up with Chloe, Clark hot on both of their heels as Oliver, Bart, Victor, and AC brought up the rear like some bizarre parade. "But where are you going?"

"I really don't have time to explain." Chloe said pushing the door to the Talon open. "I've got to change, I've got to pack before…" She stopped in her tracks.

"Hey." Clark and Oliver both stepped forward, noticing a guy crouched down in front of Chloe's door picking the look. "What are you…"

"Chloe." Dean stood up and whispered.

"Dean." Chloe smiled taking a step forward then stopping. "What are you doing here?"

"I was…well Sam thought…we were passing through and…" He let out a breath. "God you look amazing."

Chloe looked down at her wedding dress and frowned. "You idiot." She glared at him.

"Huh?" Dean shook his head.

"Do you have any idea what's going on here?" Oliver asked Bart.

"No clue." He shook his head, sped away and was back a second later holding a bucket of movie theater popcorn. "Popcorn?" Oliver glared at him, then shrugged and grabbed a handful.

"You were just going to let me marry him?" Chloe took the steps slowly to the top level.

"In my defense, Cas said that you wouldn't remember me." Dean pointed out.

"Obviously I do." Chloe said. "But that doesn't matter. You should have fought for me anyway."

"He said you were happy." Dean whispered. "He said you could have a normal life."

"He's an Angel." Chloe laughed. "What does he know about a normal life?"

"Good point." Dean nodded. "I was scared. That you wouldn't choose me." He finally admitted. That when it came down to a normal life in Smallville with a husband and job and an apartment, or me, you wouldn't choose me."

"God you are an idiot." Chloe was in front of him now and she pulled him into a crushing kiss and finally in that moment everything felt right. She pulled away and rested her forehead against his. "I gave up heaven for you."

"Yeah." Dean smiled. "What was that about?"

"I love you you dumb ass." Chloe smacked his arm with tears in her eyes.

"Who the hell's Short Round here?" Lois said very loudly.

"Well, I remember that vividly." Dean laughed. "Although last time it was coupled with her threatening me with a very large butcher knife."

"Good idea." Lois called on her walk up the stairs.

"Lovely to see you again Lois." Dean looked over Chloe's shoulder. "My does that dress look great on you."

The compliment caught Lois off guard and she paused on the top step as Chloe laughed. Lois narrowed her eyes. "Why do I get the feeling I don't like you?"

"Just wait until you've had a couple Martini's." Dean smirked.

The front door opened and a guy walked in. "Ok, Dean, I asked around town. There's a big Wedding at the Kent Farm. A lady gave me directions but it started like an hour ago so we have to haul ass is we want to…" Sam trailed off as the group of people at the foot of the stairs turned their attention on him in unison. "Hello?" He nervously scratched his head.

"Hey Sammy." Chloe looked down at him and smiled.

"Hey Chloe." Sam looked up and waved.

"The plot thickens." AC said grabbing a handful of popcorn.

* * *

Dean sat across from Chloe, neither of them had said a word since they went into her apartment to have some privacy. "I like the dress." Dean smiled.

Chloe looked down and sighed. "One day I'll wear one of these things and actually get married." Dean chuckled. "Why did you come back for me?" Chloe asked him. "Castiel said you…why did you come back?"

"Because I love you." Dean said and Chloe let out a breath she didn't even know she'd been holding. A breath she'd been holding until she heard him utter those words. "I love you and I couldn't let you do it. Even if it meant that I ruined your life, your chance at happiness." He grabbed her hand. "I tried to walk away, I tried to let you go but I couldn't do it. Maybe I was just selfish, maybe I…all I know is I left and I spent one night without you and I knew I couldn't do that again. So I came back for you."

"I'm glad you did." Chloe assured him and picked up the key card on the table. "I was actually on my way to see you, to tear you a new one for not coming after me."

"It's good you had a plan." Dean smiled.

"So what do we do now?" Chloe took a deep breath.

* * *

Sam sat at the table drumming his fingers on the counter top to the tune, of all things, "White Wedding". He sighed and looked up to see three tables full of people staring at him. He smiled sheepishly and hoped to God that Chloe and Dean would hurry up.

"So let me get this straight." Oliver was the first to speak. 'The past six months that we remember, didn't actually happen?"

"They happened." Sam sat up straighter. "For the most part. You're lives shouldn't have been changed too much, just where they intersected with ours."

"So…" AC started to say something then just stopped.

"Demons and Angels are real, Chloe was like a major playing in stopping a demon from bringing Lucifer, the devil, back from the dead and starting hell on earth?" Victor took up the rest of the sentence.

"Yep." Sam nodded.

"And she died healing Dean, only to come back as an Angel. Then fell?" Victor continued and Sam just nodded. "And I thought my life was busy."

"Assuming I believe all that stuff which I'm not sold on just yet." Lois butted in. "I'm actually supposed to believe that my baby cousin is in love with your brother?"

"Stranger things have happened." Sam shrugged.

They were all quiet again for a minute until Bart spoke up. "So what do you think they're doing up there?" Everyone turned their attention to him and he looked up confused. "I'm just saying, I mean dude thought she was dead, then she comes back, only to leave again. I know what I'd be doing."

Everyone turned their attention up to the door. "You don't think?" Clark asked.

"Chloe wouldn't." Lois shook her head.

"Dean would." Sam smiled.

* * *

Chloe raised her arms over her head and gripped the top of the door frame like she was about to fall off the edge of the world. Dean nibbled gently on her neck and her legs tightened around his waist, eliciting a deep groan. Chloe opened her eyes, breathing a sigh of relief when she didn't see an annoying Angel standing behind them interrupting. She moved her hips and Dean's grip on her waist tightened, spinning her around, knocking the vase off her side table and dropping her to the bed. "We really should get down there." Chloe panted as Dean re-familiarized himself with her stomach.

"Right." Dean nodded kissing his way up her jaw.

"They're all waiting for us." Chloe reminded him, her voice hitching as Dean hit that spot.

"They can wait." He smiled at her and she smiled back as he kissed her.

"Yeah ok, they can wait." Chloe agreed.

* * *

Bart's stomach growled loudly and everyone turned to him. "Sorry, I hadn't eaten all day except for the popcorn. I was expecting a five course meal at the reception." He paused a minute. "That food's still sitting over at the barn, I could be there and back in…"

"No." Clark, Victor, AC, and Oliver all snapped at him and Sam just laughed shaking his head.

"You guys suck." Bart crossed his arms over his chest. "Chloe would let me go."

"Yeah well Chloe let's you get away with a lot of stuff you shouldn't." Oliver pointed out.

"I know." Bart smiled. "Chloe's the best."

Suddenly there was a crash from Chloe's apartment and Clark was up in a second and heading for the stairs. "Give them a minute." Sam jumped up and stepped in front of him. "Maybe five."

Clark blushed bright red and went back to his seat.

* * *

"So…" Sam realized the time had come for uncomfortable small talk but he really had nothing to say and never felt more relieved in his whole life then when the door to Chloe's apartment opened and she and Dean walked out, smiling like idiots, holding hands and generally looking rather satisfied with themselves. "Oh thank God." He jumped out of his chair.

"Hey guys." Chloe said sheepishly. She'd changed out of the wedding dress and was now in simple jeans and a t-shirt

It was as if Chloe's presence had opened the floodgates and everyone started talking at once. "I can't believe you never told me about this, I'm your cousin, we're family." Lois was saying.

"You cancel your wedding and ten minutes later you're here with this guy…" Clark shook his head.

"I mean meteor infected people are one thing but demons and Angels…" Oliver was still in disbelief.

"How can there be a whole six months of our lives that we remember wrong…" Victor asked.

"The food's just sitting there and it's already been paid for…" Bart explained.

Sam put his fingers in his mouth and whistled. Everyone was instantly quiet. "Thanks.' Chloe nodded at him.

"No problem."

"I know you guys have a lot of questions and I'll answer them all as best I can." Chloe promised. "But I can't do it if your all talking to me at once." Immediately hands flew up in the air as if they were all back in high school. "Bart, go ahead and grab some food, it's going to go to waste anyway."

"I'm kind of hungry too." AC said sheepishly.

"I didn't want to say anything when it was just Bart but…" Victor winced.

Chloe smiled and Dean turned to her. "I could eat."

"It is paid for." Chloe said.

* * *

They sat in Clark's barn, the food for the reception spread out in front of them in silence. Chloe told the whole story, elaborating on the parts that Sam had just glossed over until everything was out, start to finish. "So what now?" Lois asked. "Are you leaving? Going back with him?"

"We talked about that." Chloe looked at Dean. "I want to help them. I liked helping them and just because we stopped the apocalypse doesn't mean all the demons are gone. Or the ghosts or werewolves or other supernatural things."

"So you are leaving then?" Oliver frowned.

"She also has a life here." Dean said. "A family." He nodded to Lois. "A job." He looked at Oliver. "And it would be nice to have a home base. A place to come back to when a job is finished."

"So you're staying?" Clark asked with a smile.

"Not full time. We'll still go out on hunts, but we'll come back. I can help Sam and Dean, still do work for the Isis Foundation, for Oliver, help you out." She turned to Clark.

"You're staying in Smallville?" Sam spoke for the first time and Dean and Chloe turned to him.

"We were kind of figuring you could stay too." Chloe offered him hopefully. "I'm not done saving your ass just yet."

Sam smiled. "Might be nice to have my own bed again."

"Well I think we should have a toast." Lois looked around.

"A toast for what?" Chloe laughed.

"I don't care, it's been a long and confusing day and I want some alcohol. Come on Short Round, let's go see where the caterers stashed the champagne."

"She's seriously never going to stop with that name is she?" Dean stood up.

"Four years and I'm still Smallville." Clark shrugged at him

"Great." Dean followed Lois to the back of the barn.

"Oh!" Chloe jumped excitedly and turned to Clark. "Good news. Turns out you're not an alien from another planet."

"Uh, Chloe?" Clark looked over at Sam.

"He's fine." Chloe brushed him off. "Krypton is really just what the earth is called in the future." Clark's brow furrowed as Chloe told Clark what Castiel had told her.

"So I'm human?" Clark said shocked. "I've always been human?"

"Blows your mind right?" Chloe nodded at him.

"I found the champagne." Lois came back in the room with Dean trailing behind her carrying a case of champagne.

"Glasses?" Oliver asked her.

"There's a bottle for each of us." Lois shook her head. "We don't need any glasses." Clark turned from Chloe, still somewhat in shock and grabbed a bottle from the box that Dean was carrying. He popped the cork, downing half the bottle in one sip. "That's the spirit Smallville."

Chloe just laughed as Dean passed her a bottle. "There's no place like home." Chloe said to him.

* * *

Dean walked up the steps to the loft and smiled when he saw Chloe at the window looking through a telescope. "Hey, Lois just left…well Clark just took Lois up to his guest room. It's best that she not drive home if you know what I mean. On the plus side she likes me again, at least until she sobers up." Chloe smiled at him. "What are you looking at?"

"I forgot Clark had this up here." Chloe waved him over. "Look at this, you can see Venus clear as day." Dean looked down in the telescope and smiled.

"What's her story?" Dean asked.

"Venus was born from sea foam. Emerged fully mature from a shell." Chloe smiled. "She was the goddess of love and beauty." Dean raised his eyebrows and wrapped his arms around Chloe waist. "You know what?" Chloe tilted her head to the side. "I'm tired of looking to the stars, to the past."

"Oh yeah?" Dean smiled and kissed her softly.

"Yeah." Chloe nodded. "I want to make my own stories, blaze my own stars."

Dean thought for a second then nodded at her. "I think we can do that. So Sam's going to crash on Clark's couch and I was hoping that maybe…"

"You want to crash on my couch?" Chloe smiled at him.

"Not exactly." Dean said.

"You don't think I'm taking the couch so you can have the bed do you?" Chloe stared at him, amusement twinkling in her eyes.

"I was hoping we could share the bed." Dean corrected her.

"Oh, well that can be arranged." Dean kissed her again, his hands just skimming the edge of her pants when there was a cough behind him. "No." Dean whispered. "Don't open your eyes and he'll go away."

"I don't think it works that way." Chloe laughed and turned her head. "Hey Cas."

"Chloe, Dean." Castiel walked further into the barn.

"To what do we owe this pleasure?" Dean asked him.

"I need your help." Castiel explained. "There were a lot more fallen than we thought and now with Uriel and Zachariah gone there's no one to lead them so…"

"There are a bunch of ex-Angel's running around out there with ultimate powers and no morals?" Dean finished the sentence.

"Yes." Castiel nodded.

"Why do you need our help?" Chloe frowned. "Don't you command a whole army of Angel's for that very purpose."

"You're uniquely qualified to track them." Castiel explained. "You can find them but they can't find you and you know how to send them back."

"How are we supposed to do that?" Dean shook his head confused.

Castiel turned to Chloe. "No." She shook her head. "I haven't had Angel radio since I got back."

"It's still there." Castiel took a step forward. "We just…put it on mute. I can turn up the volume again if…"

Dean turned to Chloe. "You don't have to do this." He assured her and she sighed.

"Yeah? Who else is gonna?" She shrugged and turned to Castiel. "Ok, hit me with the Angel whammy."

"Now?" Dean looked between the two of them. "This can't wait until we've had a couple day's R&R?"

"I'm afraid not." Castiel said apologetically as he set his fingers on Chloe's forehead.

The effect was immediate and she doubled over, clutching her temples in pain. Dean grabbed her to keep her standing and glared at the Angel. "You ok?"

"I'm fine." Chloe said through clenched teeth. "It's just going to take some getting used to again." After a minute she managed to stand up right. She rubbed her temples and looked at Castiel. "Denver. There's going to be a couple in Denver tomorrow."

"Right, we'll wait for you and provide help if you need it." Castiel nodded.

"So we're going to Denver?" Dean asked.

"I'll go get Sam and brew a fresh pot of coffee." Chloe kissed Dean's cheek. "Tell Clark we're leaving." Dean was still frowning and Chloe smiled. "Come on, it's not like it's the end of the world." That made him crack a smile.

"Cas, always a pleasure." Chloe nodded at him then stopped. "You know, you are probably the most infuriating celestial being I've ever met." He frowned at her. "That being said, thanks." She reached up on her tip toes and placed a feather light kiss on his lips before turning around and walking out.

Dean coughed as Castiel's eyes followed Chloe out of the barn, a confused look on his face. "Yeah, uh I guess I need to Thank you too." He said putting his hands in his pockets. "I'm pretty sure that Chloe and I were never supposed to remember each other and you…well just thanks."

Castiel finally turned to Dean. "I didn't do it for you." He said matter of factly. "I did it for her." Castiel frowned. "Actually, if I'm being completely honest, the act was far more selfish than that."

Dean clapped him on the back. "Well hey, don't beat yourself up. You're only human right? Well actually, technically you're not human at all but…well…you know."

Castiel sighed. "I couldn't imagine living in a world where she didn't know who I was."

Dean smiled and looked out the barn window where Chloe was pulling an annoyed Sam out of the house. "I know exactly what you mean." Dean turned around to point out that the two of them weren't that different but Castiel was gone. He heard his car horn honking and took the steps two at a time. He climbed behind the wheel and stopped for a second to see Chloe in the passenger's seat and Sam in the back.

"You get shotgun now?" Dean asked her.

"I think it's only fair." Chloe argued. "After all I'm the one sleeping with you." Dean smirked. "Plus I have the coffee and if you let me drive, I might just give you some of what's in the bag."

Dean eyed the small brown paper bag that Chloe was dangling like a worm on a hook but he just shrugged. "Yeah? What's in the bag?"

"Nothing much, just a slice of wedding cake." Chloe eyed him and Dean swallowed visibly. He looked down at the keys in his hands and then back up at the brown bag and sighed, there was no contest. He dropped the keys in Chloe's outstretched palm and they switched places on the seat as he tore into the bag. Chloe watched on in amusement. "Lois was right, you are going to be easier to train than Pavlov's dogs."

"What?" Dean asked her confused.

"Nothing." Chloe stared the car. Sam couldn't help but let a chuckle escape from the backseat and as Chloe adjusted the rearview mirror she gave him a slight wink. "Just eat your cake."


	10. GhostFacers

Author's Note: Here it is at last. Your bonus chapter. Chloe meets the GhostFacers. Initially this was a few paragraphs but I inadvertently hyped it up and suddenly every was expecting this legendary thing so I tweaked it a bit and added to it so I hope it doesn't dissappoint.

* * *

"I just want a long bath." Chloe twisted her key in the lock of her apartment and opened the door.

"You're bathtub big enough for two?" Dean smiled at her.

"Guys, seriously I can go get a room or something." Sam offered.

"No, it's fine. There's nowhere to get a room in Smallville. But I will help you find a place tomorrow." Chloe said.

"Have we decided how I'm going to pay the rent on this apartment?" Sam asked. They'd never discussed the logistics of living in Smallville. Sure it was a good idea, having a dedicated home base if you will but they didn't have normal jobs that came with paychecks. They couldn't pay for utilities or cable or groceries.

"The same way I pay for my apartment." Chloe set her bag on the counter. "I talked to Oliver and he's already put you guys on the payroll. So long as we agree to help him out when we're not on jobs, we're officially legitimate working members of society."

"What exactly is our job description?" Dean smirked as Chloe went through the large stack of mail that had added up during the two months that they had been gone.

"Wetworks." Chloe said with a smile and Dean smirked.

"Seriously?" He asked. Chloe just turned to him. She'd actually suggested Wetworks, which was the generally well known spy euphemism for assassination and she thought Dean would get a kick out of it but Oliver declined. He said that in today's cutthroat business world someone might just take him seriously.

"No, you're billed as outside consultants." Chloe frowned grabbing a large brown envelope. "What the hell?"

Dean and Sam walked over and saw a familiar name on the return address label. "GhostFacers?" Sam said. "Why would they be sending you something?"

"Oh no." Chloe tore open the package and dumped it upside down. A smaller envelope and a DVD dropped to the table and Chloe groaned. "Remember I said I went out there to meet with them when I was looking for you guys?"

Dean nodded and opened the small envelope. "Dear Ms. Sullivan. Although you solicited our time under false pretenses, it made for good television so here is a rough cut of your episode. I hope you enjoy. Love the GhostFacers. PS Attached you'll find the bill for the damages to Fairlawn Mansion. A cashier's check would be best but in a pinch we'll take a personal check if you provide two forms of ID." Dean turned to her. "You filmed an episode?"

"I didn't think they actually made these things, I thought they just walked around with the cameras being idiots." Chloe explained.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Dean looked at Sam.

"I'll make the popcorn." Sam nodded.

"No, we're not watching it." Chloe tried to take the tape from Dean but he kept it out of her reach.

"It's your television debut. Aren't you even the least bit curious?" Dean asked.

"Come on, a GhostFacers episode is like a right of passage. We've all done one." Sam told her.

Chloe sighed. "Fine." She walked over to the couch.

"Awesome." Dean popped the DVD into the player and they all sat back to watch the show.

The opening credits popped up on the screen immediately. "Ghost, GhostFacers, we face the ghost when the others will not we're Ghost GhostFacers, stay in the kitchen when the kitchen gets hot."

"Great, now that songs going to be stuck in my head for a week." Dean groaned and Chloe elbowed him.

"Quiet, I'm watching." She glared.

"Ok, fine."

**

* * *

**

GhostFacers Headquarters 0800 Hours

Ed and Harry are standing in the GhostFacers Headquarters (Ed's garage) having a meeting. "So it's a big day for the GhostFacers." Ed smiled.

"We've been discovered if you will." Harry added.

Ed nodded. "That's right. A big shot news reporter from the Daily Planet…"

"That's in Metropolis." Harry butted in.

Ed looked over at him and glared. "She's flying out here today to meet us for an article she's writing."

"You mean we're going to be in the paper?" Maggie lifted her head up, now infinitely more interested in the meeting.

"Well, not really. _We're_ going to be in the paper." Ed said and Harry pointed to himself then Ed. "I mean the article is about the GhostFacers."

"We're GhostFacers." Spruce said from behind the camera.

"Yeah but not really." Harry laughed.

"I mean you're GhostFacers because you've like faced an actual ghost but we…" Ed pointed to himself then Harry, "We are the GhostFacers."

"So you're saying we're not a part of the team?" Maggie dropped the screwdriver she was holding annoyed.

"Well you're part of the team but we run the team, it's like we're in front of the camera and you're behind the scenes." Ed offered.

"Like we're Wolverine and Cyclops and you guys are like other…I don't want to say lesser mutants who are part of the X-men but have like really lame powers so they're not the ones in the spot light you know?" Harry added.

"Exactly." Ed nodded in agreement. "I'm Wolverine though right?"

"No, I'm obviously Wolverine. You're Cyclops." Harry told him. "You've got the glasses already and…"

"But it's not about the glasses." Ed protested as Maggie stormed off behind him. Then the camera went black.

**Ed and Harry Confessional**

"We weren't purposefully being mean or anything." Ed frowned waving away a fly.

"Of course not, it's not about that." Harry shook his head. "We're just being realistic. I mean we started this thing with blood, sweat, and tears."

"Not my tears." Ed looked at Harry. "I never cried, when did you cry?"

"I didn't cry." Harry sputtered. "I didn't mean actual tears, I mean metaphorical tears. Just an expression."

"Oh, ok." Ed nodded.

"We put our blood, sweat, and metaphorical tears into this thing." Harry said.

"It started with a little sight called , you're probably familiar with it." Ed leaned back. "They weren't there for that. They weren't there when we were living in that tiny little trailer, hunting ghosts and dealing with those douchebags."

"The Winchesters." Harry nodded vigorously.

"Yeah." Ed sighed. "Anyway we don't think any less of them, we wouldn't be able to do this show without them."

"But there wouldn't be a show without us." Harry pointed out.

"Exactly." Ed nodded. "They shouldn't have stormed out like that, it was totally unprofessional."

**GhostFacers Headquarters 0830 Hours**

When the picture came back Ed and Harry were sitting in their seats again and Maggie was messing around with an old camera. "Well our completely full fledged team members are back." Ed smiled tightly.

"Right, so the reporter." Harry rubbed his hands together. "She's going to be here for a while, tailing us throughout our next case."

"And we'll be tailing her for the show, so it'll be us tailing her tailing us." Ed smiled as if he just realized that.

"No, it'll be her tailing us tailing, no us tailing her tailing us tailing the ghost." Harry corrected him.

"That's exactly, that's what I said." Ed turned to him annoyed.

"Well yeah but you left out the ghost." Harry pointed out.

**GhostFacers Headquarters 09:45**

"She's here." Harry pulled away from the window. "A car just pulled up in the driveway." He looked around the group. Ed was on the computer and Maggie was still playing with the old camera. "Try to look busy."

Maggie looked up confused. "I am busy." She said motioning to the wires and parts in front of her.

"But you don't look like a GhostFacer." Harry shook his head. "You should do GhostFacer work, like ghost related work."

"What? You want me to like summon a ghost?" Maggie asked sarcastically.

Harry looked at her seriously. "No, we can't have a ghost here, we get rid of ghosts, if she came in and there was a ghost in here…unless it was like a friendly ghost that helped us out and stuff like Slimer from Ghostbusters…"

"Just do some work that's ghost related." Ed called from behind the computer.

"Like you?" Maggie scoffed.

"I'm researching." Ed said. "It's very important."

"Researching my ass." Maggie stood up. "If you're not over there reading Star Trek Fan fiction I'll eat my camera." She crossed her arms over her chest.

"Well I hope you're hungry because it's actually Xena fan fiction." Ed told her smugly. "Go on, take a big bite."

"I'm not really going to eat my camera." Maggie snorted.

"You said you would." Ed countered.

"I didn't mean it, it's what people say, it's an expression." Maggie explained.

"Really? Cause I call it a lie." Ed jumped up.

**Maggie Confessional **

Maggie sighed. "Ed's being a little ridiculous about the whole camera thing. He keeps putting it next to my plate at dinner, he thinks it's funny but it's just stupid."

"It's a little funny." A voice said from further away.

"Shut up Harry." Maggie glared at him. "This is supposed to be private." She grabbed a cushion from the seat next to her and threw it.

"Ow." Harry said. "That hurt."

"It was a pillow." Maggie rolled her eyes.

"But you hit me in the eye with the corner." Harry told her.

"God sometimes you're such a baby." Maggie got up and walked away.

**Ed Solo Confessional**

"I don't think," Ed scratched his head. "I don't think I'm being ridiculous about the camera thing." He crossed his arms over his chest. "I mean she said she'd eat her camera. If I were playing basketball and said oh if I don't make this next basket I'll stand on my head for five minutes, you'd expect me to stand on my head if I missed. I don't think just because it would be difficult to ingest that the rules should be any different for Maggie."

**GhostFacers Headquarters 0953 Hours**

"You're an idiot." Maggie glared at Ed.

"Guys don't do this. We need to be a team, like a well oiled machine when the reporter gets here." Harry said panicking.

There was a loud cough and everyone turned to the other side of the room where Chloe was standing in the door frame smiling. "Hi." She took a few more steps in the room. "Your mom let me in."

"Hi, I'm Ed." Ed walked over to her. "Founder…"

"Co-Founder." Harry came up behind him.

"Co-Founder of GhostFacers." He corrected himself. "This is Harry, he's my Co Co-Founder. Co Co?" Ed asked Harry.

"No, it's just Co-Founder." Harry said and they shook Chloe's hand.

Ed introduced everyone else"This is Spruce our main camera man and Maggie our chief technical operator."

"And Ed's sister." Harry added.

"Adopted sister." Ed smiled.

"Nice to meet you guys. I'm Chloe Sullivan." She nodded. "So how do you want to do this? Should I start with the questions?"

"Actually." Harry said. "We're going to be using this in one of our episodes, so what we really need is for you to do a confessional, you know introduce yourself to everyone."

"No, I don't think, I don't think I want to do that." Chloe shook her head.

"It's all part of the show process and we have the camera set up outside, it's very private." Harry explained.

"It's actually very relaxing, very lethargic." Ed told her.

"Cathartic." Harry corrected him.

"What he said." Ed smiled. "Wait, what is lethargic?"

"It means tired." Chloe offered.

"Well sometimes it can make you tired." Ed defended himself.

"Guys I really don't feel comfortable…" Chloe looked at everyone then sighed.

**Chloe Confessional **

Chloe situated herself in the chair across from the camera and sighed. "I can't believe I'm doing this." She mumbled under her breath. "I'm Chloe Sullivan, a reporter for the Daily Planet…" She looked around the back yard. "You know what? The chances of these guys actually getting their own show is slim to none so what the hell. I'm not a reporter for the Daily Planet. I was but I'm not anymore. I'm not writing an article about the GhostFacers, I don't care about the GhostFacers. The thing is, ok, a few months ago my brain was royally screwed by this alien computer thing that like possessed me and ever since then I've been hearing Angel's talking in my head. They one thing they keep talking about over and over are Sam and Dean Winchester. I don't know what's going on but I know that if I don't find Sam and Dean Winchester then I'm going to go crazy, assuming I'm not already. Anyway these guys are the only solid lead I have on any kind of Winchesters so here I am." Chloe sighed. "What do you know, he was right, that was cathartic." She stood up and walked away.

**GhostFacers Headquarters 1000 Hours**

"Ok." Harry clapped his hands. "This is our next job. The Fairlawn Mansion." Harry pointed to a picture taped to the board behind him. "We all know this place, it's local. We all took the tour when we were in grade school."

"I didn't." Spruce said. "I'm not originally from here remember."

"This is our little coffee counter, where we make the coffee, we have a lot of different kinds, regular and decaf and French Vanilla." Ed was showing Chloe around the Headquarters. "We're like a regular Starbucks over here." He laughed and Chloe raised her eyebrows.

"Oh, well _we_ took the tour when we were in grade school." Harry said trying to ignore Ed. "It's the most haunted building in Wisconsin."

"And this is our whiteboard." Ed pointed it out to Chloe stepping in front of Harry. "It's where we put all our research. Here's a brochure for the Museum and some printouts from the Internet it's all very technical, you don't need to worry about it."

"Ed." Harry glared at him. "What are you doing?"

"I'm just showing her around." Ed said. "Giving her the lay of the land as it were."

"But I'm in the middle of the debriefing." Harry said. "Can I talk to you outside for a second?"

**Ed and Harry Confessional**

"So what was that?" Harry asked. "I'm in the middle of the whole history of the thing and you're just…"

"What do you think of her?" Ed asked Harry suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Harry frowned.

"I mean she's hot right?" Ed said. "She's all blonde and hot."

"She's…I don't know, she's tiny." Harry said.

"What does that mean, she's tiny?" Ed turned to him.

"She's like miniature sized, I could fit her in my pocket." Harry told him.

"I could fit you in my pocket but it doesn't stop me from being your friend." Ed laughed.

"That was mean…that was cruel and mean." Harry turned away from him.

"I'm sorry, your right. I know you have a complex…"

"It's not a complex. I'm short, I'm shorter than normal and I'm ok with that but you don't have to be so cruel." Harry said.

"I know, I won't do it again. You're my best friend I never meant to hurt your feelings." Ed told him.

"It's ok." Harry smiled.

"So you think she'd go out with me?" Ed leaned back.

"Well duh." Harry laughed as if the question was ridiculous. "I mean who wouldn't."

"I know right." Ed looked down. "I look good."

"Have you been working out, you look like you've been working out." Harry told him.

"Not really, I'm just naturally buff." Ed shook his head. "It's all that GMA. Ghost Martial Arts."

"I know what you mean, it's been building up my triceps like crazy." Harry rolled up his sleeves.

**GhostFacers Headquarters 1030 Hours**

"We're back." Harry and Ed walked in the door. "We had some very important official GhostFacers business to attend to."

"Anyway, back to the job." Harry said. "Fairlawn Mansion."

"The most haunted house in Wisconsin." Ed said.

"I already did that part but never mind." Harry sighed. "So during the day it's just a museum but at night is when the ghosts come out to play and tonight we'll be there to face them."

"GhostFace them." Ed said.

"It doesn't really work as a verb." Harry shook his head.

"Just face them then." Ed nodded. "That's fine. We'll face them like only GhostFacers can face Ghosts."

"Ok." Harry said. "You guys know what needs to be done. So let's get to it."

**Spruce Confessional**

"Spruce here, your friendly neighborhood camera man." Spruce turned the camera on himself and waved. "So we've got the reporter here on this job so that should be interesting. It's also our first job since, well the last job. Where we lost a team member." Spruce coughed. "Corbett, we miss you. But we know a lot more now than we did then and I think we're ready. Yeah we're ready."

**GhostFacers Headquarters 1200 Hours**

"Can I help with anything?" Chloe walked up to Maggie.

"Yeah, if you want to grab that box of cables down there, that would be great." Maggie struggled with the box she was holding.

Chloe grabbed the box of cables and followed Maggie out to the van. "So I didn't realize how much stuff went into all this."

"Neither did I." Maggie dropped the box on the bed of the van and sighed. "We used to have an intern who did all the heavy lifting but he…" Chloe put the cables in the van. "He died. On our last job."

"I'm so sorry." Chloe frowned.

"Yeah." Maggie said. "I mean it was crazy and scary and some days I still can't believe it you know?"

"I do." Chloe nodded. "So your last job, was that where you met the Winchesters?" Maggie turned to her confused. "I saw the video on your website and you talked about Winchesters. I've run across their names a few times in researching for this article."

"Yeah, that's when we met them." Maggie said.

"What do you know about them?" Chloe asked nonchalantly.

"They're assholes." Maggie smiled. "I mean they completely destroyed hours and hours of footage and they act like they know everything. You know the type." She sighed. "They showed up out of nowhere and took over, jerks." Maggie pushed herself off the van and walked to the garage to get more supplies.

**Maggie Confessional**

"I think I may have been a little harsh earlier." Maggie pushed her hair behind her ears. "I mean Ed and Harry are always harping on the fact that the Winchesters are douches and they even, like when one of them does something stupid, instead of saying "Don't be a jerk" They say, "Don't be a Winchester" but they weren't that bad. I mean honestly if it weren't for them a lot more than just Corbett would have died in the Morton house. I know that and I think they do too. And Sam was really cute." Maggie blushed.

**Fairlawn Mansion 2000 Hours**

The GhostFacers van drove up and parked out front of the Fairlawn Mansion. The door slid open and Ed jumped down then helped Chloe get out of the back. "Here we are. The most haunted place in Wisconsin."

"Oh yeah you can feel it." Harry climbed out of the van with the EVP reader in his hand.

"You getting any readings on that thing?" Ed asked him.

"No, but you can just feel it in the air." Harry took a deep breath then coughed.

"Right let's get inside and get set up." Ed walked up to the door and knocked. "We got a permit this time and the museum actually said they'd leave us a tour guide who knows everything there is to know about the Mansion." The door opened and a perky brunette smiled down at them.

"Hi guys." She waved at the camera. "Hi Ed." She smiled down at him. "I'm Susie your tour guide slash ghost guide this evening. Come on in."

Ed turned around and glared at Harry.

**Ed and Harry Confessional**

"Well I was not expecting this." Ed sighed. "Susie Peters." He took a deep breath. "Susie went to school with Harry and me and if I must confess I think she's got a thing for me."

"Stalker I believe is the word they use." Harry smirked at Ed.

"She wasn't a stalker." Ed corrected. "Well at least not as far as the courts were concerned." He pulled his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. "All I know is she better not mess things up with me and the reporter."

**Fairlawn Mansion 2011 Hours**

"Alright." Susie motioned them inside. "Just a little history. There are forty two rooms in the Fairlawn Mansion. Since the museum opened the claims of ghost sighting increased exponentially. " Susie motioned them into the main room. "The Pattison family moved into the mansion in 1891 and lived here for 17 years. They often sponsored immigrants to America by paying their way over in return for them working at the house as servants for a while. Martin Pattison was described as a kind man who always treated the servants just like family." She stopped them in front of a picture of a shorter olive skinned girl with long straight dark hair. "This is the girl that most people describe as the ghost. She was a servant here in 1914 and she left to get married only to be murdered by her husband. People believe she returned back here because this place was the place that she felt most happy. She's a friendly ghost and she's said to help visitors find their way if they get lost and the she vanishes." Susie turned around. "Any questions?" She looked at each of them. "Ed?"

"No thanks, I think we're good." He turned to his team. "So forty two rooms is more than we bargained for but I think we can cover most of the main areas. You guys know what to do. Hands in." Maggie, Spruce, Ed, and Harry put their hands on top of each other and then raised them. "One two three." He said.

"GhoooooostFacers." They all said together then took off to unload the van.

**Susie Confessional**

"So I'm Susie Parker. I've known Harry and Ed for like gosh, forever." She sighed. "I won't say that I took this job because of Ed. But I did know he was doing the whole GhostFacer thing and Fairlawn being the most haunted place in Wisconsin, I figured I might have a better chance of running into him here in a haunted house than down at the International House of Pancakes." She said sheepishly. "Then when the manager got the request for filming rights I convinced her it would be ok and even offered up my services as a tour guide."

**Command Center (Living room Fairlawn Mansion) 2045 Hours**

"So this is the Command Center." Ed told Chloe.

"Our center of command." Harry butted in as he adjusted all the monitors.

"Nice." Chloe nodded in appreciation.

Harry's walkie talkie burst to life. "This is Maggie, I'm having trouble in the East Wing with the camera placement."

"Copy that." Harry nodded at them and then got up and headed to the other side of the room.

"Ed, I need you to come sign some papers." Susie grabbed his arm and he looked between Chloe and Susie and sighed following her out of the room. Spruce followed them out. Chloe must not have realized they already set the camera up in the room because she looked around to make sure no one was watching her and she immediately went the bay of monitors and started typing something. Window after window popped up as she searched their whole system for some mention of the Winchesters.

"What are you…what are you doing?" Chloe spun around and saw Ed behind her.

She smiled that hundred watt smile at him and forced herself to blush. "Sorry, it's that reporter's curiosity, I guess." She stood up slowly and purposefully until she was practically pressed up against him. "I was so impressed with all this stuff you had here and I couldn't help myself from just pushing some buttons."

Ed swallowed hard. "Yeah the uh buttons are shiny and…" Chloe brought a hand up to seemingly brush a speck of lint off his shoulder and his voice hitched. "They easily distract you."

"Not you I'm sure." Chloe said. "You're so together and professional."

"No one's perfect, I mean I come really close but…" Ed smiled and actually giggled.

"Come on. The way you handle your team, the way you organized them, set this whole thing up." Chloe looked around. "It was pretty take charge."

"Yeah it was." Ed agreed.

"And I heard about how you handled the Winchesters."

"Oh you heard about those tools?" Ed smiled. "Yeah well they were nothing compared to the horrors we face on a daily basis as GhostFacers."

Chloe ran her hand along the collar of his shirt. "So like, Sam and Dean, you wouldn't know…"

There was a loud cough from behind them and they turned to see a very annoyed Susie glaring at them. "Ed, I need you to take me around to inspect the cameras, make sure they aren't doing any damage. This is a historical home you know."

Chloe shrugged at him and walked away. "I'm going to catch up with Harry and Maggie, they're doing a walkthrough of the upper bedrooms."

**Top Floor Walkthrough (Fairlawn Mansion) 2120**

Harry went through the top floor of the house explaining what he was doing to Chloe who pretended to take notes. "What's that?" Chloe motioned to the device in his hands.

"Ghosts resonate on a frequency higher our normal eyes can detect them." Harry said. "With these we can tell when a ghost is near."

"Plus the cameras do what Spence calls a Ghost Roll thing where they fuzz out for a second." Maggie explained.

"Well yeah but the EVP and EMF are more scientific." Harry said.

"That's some serious equipment you got there." Chloe said impressed. "Very professional."

"Well we are professional ghost fighters." Harry reminded her.

"Oh I know." Chloe agreed with him. "You must hate it when amateurs but in on your turf huh? You ever have that problem?"

"Oh yeah." Harry walked into the master bedroom. "Just last year we had these guys, total amateurs, almost got us all killed but Ed and I managed to uh save the day and even save their lives."

"Really?" Chloe said. "Do you know these guys? I'd like to interview them for the story."

"We've actually run into them a few times." Harry adjusted something on his handheld thing. "The Winchester brothers. They like to think they're big shot ghost hunters."

"Do you know where I can…" The camera cut out and then cut back in.

"Uh guys." Maggie said as the camera started to shake slightly, a woman with long blonde hair and fair skin in a white gown stalked toward Chloe and Harry.

"I've got a massive spike here." Harry said.

"Behind you." Maggie whispered and Chloe and Harry turned around just in time to see the woman.

"Out, out, out." Harry grabbed Maggie's hand and pulled her to the door right when the ghost reached for them. They made it to the hallway but Chloe wasn't as quick and didn't run out to the hallway as much as she was shoved out into the hallway. Harry hurried forward and closed the door as Maggie helped Chloe up. "Oh my God, did you see her, she was like…"

"Totally." Maggie agreed.

"I can't believe it." Harry grabbed for his walkie talkie. "Spectral anomaly, upstairs, east wing."

"Copy that, regroup at Command Center." Ed called back.

"On our way." Harry said.

"Let's go." Maggie nodded.

**Command Center (Living room Fairlawn Mansion) 2140 Hours**

Ed finished watching the footage and turned when he saw that Susie had a death grip on his arm. "That was really a real live ghost." Susie said scared.

Ed slowly pulled her hand of his arm. "Yeah, though technically not "live" because it's a ghost so by nature it's dead."

"But she was real." Susie frowned.

"I couldn't help but notice that it was definitely not that nice little servant girl from the picture you showed us." Chloe said rubbing her arm.

"No." Susie shook her head. "It wasn't, but she did look familiar."

"Well you're the expert here Susie." Harry pointed out. "Who was she?"

"I don't know, I can't think." Susie sat down.

"Hey." Chloe walked over to her. "This is really shocking and scary, I know but we need to know who she is so we can deal with her. Now the main room has all those old pictures. You think she could be in one of those?"

"Maybe." Susie nodded.

"Ok, let's go." Chloe grabbed her hand. "Come on."

"No I can't go out there, there's a ghost out there." Susie shook her head.

"Ed, can you help me out here?" Chloe asked him.

"She's right, there's a ghost out there." Ed shook his head.

"Ed!" Chloe snapped at him. "Come on."

"Fine. Spruce you're with us." Ed grumbled and they walked out of the room.

**Main Room of the Museum (Fairlawn Museum) 2200 Hours**

"Hey, hey Susie." Chloe called her over. "I think I found her." She pointed to a picture of a woman who looked just like the ghost.

"That's Melanie Pattison." Susie said confused. "Martin Pattison's wife."

"Well how did she die?" Chloe asked. "Was she murdered? Suicide?"

"No." Susie said. "She left him, disappeared in the middle of the night. There were rumors that she ran away with the groundskeeper because he disappeared too but nothing was ever proven." Susie moved away to look for something in one of the displays.

"So Chloe." Ed walked over to her and leaned against a case. "I was thinking when this whole ghost thing is over with maybe we can you know like go grab some coffee or maybe I don't know catch a movie. There's a Godfather Retrospective at the…" The camera fritzed a few times.

"Uh oh guys we've got trouble coming." Spruce panned the camera around and stopped when he landed on Susie frozen in place as she stared at a very large man in a pair of well worn overalls with his arm outstretched. "Holy BLEEP."

"Susie." Chloe ran forward and shoved Susie out of the way only to be picked up by her throat.

"Oh God, Oh God, Oh God." Susie mumbled to herself as Chloe kicked her legs trying to break free.

"Uh, iron, we need some iron, is anything in here made of iron?" Ed asked.

"The uh…the antique cookware over there on the wall." Susie said.

Ed grabbed a pot and then ran over to the ghost. Chloe's face was turning bright red as Ed tried to figure out which angle would be best to hit the ghost. "Just do it already." Spruce called to him.

"Ok." Ed nodded and swung the pot, dissipating the ghost and Chloe fell to the floor in a heap. "That was amazing. Did you see me?"

Susie ran over to help Chloe up. "You saved me." Susie said amazed.

"Yeah, ok." Chloe climbed to her feet and winced as she put weight on her ankle.

"I'm so sorry." Susie said. "When I saw you and Ed together earlier, I thought you were trying to steal him from me and I wished that you would die a horribly painful death but I didn't mean it."

"Ok." Chloe frowned. "For the record, I really don't want Ed."

"Good to know." Susie smiled.

"So I'm guessing that was the groundskeeper?" Chloe limped slightly to the door.

"Yeah I think so." Susie nodded.

"So I'm guessing they didn't run away together?" Ed shook his head.

"I think we need to have another look around the master bedroom." Chloe walked away. "That's the first place Melinda showed up."

**Master Bedroom (Fairlawn Mansion) 2215 Hours**

"You got all the supplies just in case?" Ed turned to Harry who patted the duffel bag hanging from his shoulder. Ed turned back to the door and took a few deep breaths before turning the knob and walking inside.

"Oh yeah, I can feel it." Harry walked in behind him. "This room has some bad mojo."

"I don't like it, I don't think we should be in here." Maggie shook her head.

"Why are we in here?" Ed frowned.

"Something about this room has been bothering me." Chloe paced around looking at everything. "The brochure said that all the bedrooms had fireplaces right?"

"Yeah." Susie nodded.

"But this is a bedroom." Chloe spun around. "So where's the fireplace?"

"There's no fireplace." Harry spun around. "Where's the fireplace?"

"It should be on that wall, right in the middle." Sarah pointed to the original plans.

"Why would you close up a fireplace? Especially in Wisconsin?" Chloe asked. "It doesn't make any sense."

"And it's bad Feng Shui." Ed nodded in agreement.

Chloe grabbed a lamp off the dresser and swung it with all her might at the wall. A crack appeared and everyone jumped. She hit it again and again and as the plaster gave way to brick and started to crumble. A wind picked up in the room and the camera fritzed a few times. Suddenly Melinda was in front of her, she reached out and threw Chloe into the opposite wall. Chloe pulled herself to her feet and gripped the lamp. She swung it hard straight at the woman but it didn't do anything. "So, not made of iron then." Chloe said sheepishly and dropped the lamp.

"Chloe!" Ed called and threw the shotgun at her. She caught it in her outstretched hand, cocked it and fired, dissipating the ghost instantly.

"Holy crap did you see that?" Ed asked out of breath. "She was like…and I was like…and I just threw the gun and it went straight at her."

"You were so brave." Susie smiled up.

"I know it was like I was running on pure adrenaline or something." Ed smiled.

"Seriously?" Chloe panted as she dabbed at the blood on her forehead.

"You saved my life." Susie told him, then grabbed his face and kissed him. She pulled away after a second and blushed as Ed stared at her in confusion before grabbing her and kissing her even more frantically.

Chloe rolled her eyes and dragged herself over to the wall, reaching in with her hands and pulling the old bricks down one at a time until the hole was big enough and two skeletons dropped out and fell to the ground.

"Frak." Harry said.

"Salt and burn right?" Chloe panted.

**Command Center (Living room Fairlawn Mansion) 2349 Hours**

Maggie helped Chloe down the stairs, her ankle still slightly weak. "So you think that the husband caught the wife and the groundskeeper, killed them, then closed them up in the fireplace?"

"No." Chloe shook her head. "Did you see those bricks? There were claw marks on the inside. I think he closed them up in the fireplace when they were still alive."

"Harsh." Harry breathed out.

"So did you get enough for your article you think?" Maggie asked Chloe who winced and grabbed her head.

"There's no article." Chloe said tired and annoyed as she dropped down to the bottom step and sat there.

"What?" Ed, Harry, Maggie, and Spruce all turned to her. "What do you mean there's no article?"

"I made it up. I'm not even a reporter. Well I was once upon a time but…I made the whole thing up." Chloe said as tears formed in her eyes.

"I don't understand what's going on here." Maggie said.

"There's no article, I didn't come here to find out about the GhostFacers. I came here to find out about the Winchesters." Chloe said crying.

"The Winchesters?" Harry screamed. "Seriously?"

"Those crap baskets?" Ed yelled at her. "What do you…why would you…the Winchesters?"

"I have to find them. I've been looking for months and I heard you talking about them in your video online." Chloe was sobbing now. "And I thought maybe you knew where they were, but you didn't seem to like them so I made up the whole reporter thing. I still don't know anything about them, I almost died like five times tonight and I just can't take it anymore." Chloe leaned her head on Maggie's shoulder who looked scared and confused.

"Oh, hey, wait." Harry said as Maggie patted Chloe's shoulder. "It's not so bad."

"Yes it is, I'm never going to find them." Chloe said.

"Wait." Ed jumped down a few steps. "Wait, didn't Sam, didn't he give you his number after the Morton House thing?" Ed asked Harry.

"Yes, yes he did." Harry nodded. "I put it in my phone." Harry told Chloe pulling out his phone. "I have his number. You can just call him. Please stop crying" Harry handed her the phone and Chloe looked up at him. She sat up straight, a smile on her face and wiped her tears like they weren't even there.

"Thanks." She plucked the phone from Harry and jumped up.

"Wait…" Harry and Ed looked at each other. "Did she just…was that all…"

"She played you man." Spruce said laughing.

"Sorry, but Lois was right about boys and crying woman. You guys just don't know what to do." Chloe said as she dialed Sam's number and took a deep breath.

"I can't believe it." Harry shook his head.

"Well what do you expect from someone who wants to find the Winchesters?" Ed said.

Chloe dropped the phone from her ear and turned around holding it out to Harry. "The number's been disconnected." She said upset.

"Wait are you going to cry again?" Harry took his phone back. "Like for real this time?"

"No." Chloe shook her head. "Its fine, I'll just…I'll figure something out. I'm sorry for you know lying to you guys."

"It's ok." Ed assured her.

"No it's not." Harry countered and Ed glared at him. "I mean sure whatever."

"Ok, drama over, let's just tear it all down, load up the van." Ed said.

**Outside Fairlawn Mansion 0123 Hours**

"How am I going to explain the damage to my boss?" Susie asked as the loaded the last box in the van.

"Just tell her what happened I'm sure she'll understand." Ed said. "You guys have insurance right?"

"Actually you're liable for the damages." Susie explained. "Didn't you read those release forms you signed?"

"Frak." Ed frowned.

"You know what guys." Chloe grabbed something from her bag. "Why don't you bill me for the damages, it's the least I can do." She passed Ed a card.

"It really is." He agreed. "Hey, look about that coffee…" Ed turned to look at Susie who smiled and waved. "I don't think Susie would really go for that."

"Right." Chloe nodded. "I understand."

"Well, it's been a long and dangerous journey, we've been bonded in a way that people are rarely bonded, through the facing of ghosts. But now we must part and go back to our separate lives. Maybe we'll meet again someday." Ed kissed her hand.

"You do know that I'm riding back with you, in the van." Chloe smiled. "My rental car is at your house."

"Right." Ed said. "See you in the van then." He turned and walked away.

**GhostFacers Headquarters **

"So we got rid of the ghost." Ed said. He and Harry were back at the Headquarters. "Another fine day for the GhostFacers."

"Great day, great day." Harry agreed. "And Ed got a girlfriend."

"Not a girlfriend, don't call her that, we're trying it out." Ed said. "Don't, make sure you don't say girlfriend around her."

"Sure thing." Harry nodded.

"And now the "reporter" is gone, drove to the airport earlier today and she's out of our lives. Good riddance." Ed said.

"Don't do that." Harry shook his head. "You know I hate air quotes."

"Right, sorry." Ed said. "The alleged reporter."

"She wasn't alleged, she just lied about being a reporter."

"That's what alleged means." Ed told him.

"No I think you mean impostor or supposed." Harry corrected him.

"You know how like you hate it when I say stuff about your height? I hate it when you correct my grammar." Ed told him.

"I didn't realize, sorry. Won't happen again." Harry assured him. "But it's not grammar so much as it's word usage, vocabulary mix ups, it's no big deal it's just…"

"You did it again." Ed told him. "Just then."

The screen faded to black as they kept arguing and the credits scrolled.

* * *

Dean turned off the television and looked over at Chloe. "So…"

"It wasn't half bad." Chloe said. "I looked bad-ass with that shotgun didn't I?"

"You really did." Dean agreed.

"I thought it was pretty cool." Sam agreed.

"Of course we can't let them put it out there." Dean said. "And they're probably on to us, so we can't do it again."

"You think we could get Cas to do us a favor?" Chloe asked. "Go in there all Angel of the Lord-y, wipe their records and scare them straight."

"He does owe us one, a few actually. I'm sure he'd love to scare the crap out of amateur ghost hunters." Dean smiled. "The guys really developing a sense of humor."

"This was great, but I'm exhausted and you guys are on my bed." Sam pointed out.

"Right." Dean got up and pulled Chloe to her feet. "Come on, cause seriously you were pretty bad-ass with the shotgun."

"I just want to remind you guys that there's no bedroom door and I'm like ten feet away from you." Sam pointed out.

Dean smiled walked to his bag, rooted around a bit. Dean dropped something on Sam's chest and when he looked down he saw it was Dean's iPod. Sam laughed. "Turn it up really loud cause she's a screamer." Dean winked.

"Dean!" Chloe slapped his arm. "Don't listen to him Sammy we're not going to do anything tonight."

Dean glared at his little brother and walked to the bedroom. "Fine but we're finding him a place to live tomorrow definitely."

"We can find you a place to live tomorrow if you don't start behaving." Chloe smacked him on her way to the bedroom.

Sam settled into the couch and closed his eyes. He could hear Chloe giggling and Dean talking to her quietly. He sighed, reached for the iPod and put in the headphones. He trusted Chloe, he really did but he also knew that Dean could be pretty damn convincing when he wanted to be and Chloe did look really bad ass with that shotgun.

**

* * *

**

Two Weeks Later…

Ed and Harry walked into the GhostFacers headquarters deep in conversation. "How can you even say that, it's like I don't even know you." Ed shook his head.

"It's not that big a deal." Harry shook his head.

"Not that big a deal?" Ed scoffed. "I swear it's just like you walked in here and suddenly announced to me that you're a communist, or Canadian or something. You're whole argument is flawed."

"Flawed? Can you agree that the last season of Angel was better than the last season of Buffy?" Harry asked him.

Ed thought for a second. "Agreed."

"And can you agree that the Series Finale of Angel was better than Buffy?" Harry asked.

Ed scoffed. "Please, giant hole in the ground versus giant dragon? No contest."

"Then Angel was a better series than Buffy." Harry said.

"Please, without Buffy, there is no Angel." Ed told him. "And you can't base an opinion of an entire series on one season. Angel's last season was inspired that's true." Harry smiled. "But the show wasn't without its flaws."

Harry gasped. "Name one."

"The whole Cordelia and Conner sleep together to create a child that's sprung fully grown thing." Ed pointed out.

"I can't believe you would throw that in my face." Harry said upset. "Ok, fine, I see your Cordelia and Conner and raise you a Secret Government institution that experiments on demons and creates demon/machine/human monsters."

"Damn it." Ed turned and frowned. There was a man standing in front of their white board studying it quizzically. Ed nudged Harry who coughed and the man turned around. He was wearing a blue suit with an overcoat and he looked pretty normal. "Can we help you?" Ed asked him.

"Are you Ed and Harry?"

"We are." Harry nodded.

"The Ed and Harry who run and The GhostFacers?" The man took a step forward.

"Guilty as charged." Ed smiled at him. "Do you have a ghost that needs facing?"

"No." The man said to them. "My name is Castiel." The lights in the garage flickered and flashed and the image of a pair of shadowy wings unfurled from Castiel's back. "I'm an Angel of the Lord and I have a message for you from Sam and Dean Winchester."

"Frak." Harry gulped.

Ten minutes later they were staring in astonishment at the pile of crushed and steaming electronic equipment sitting in the middle of the room. All of their computers, all of their camera equipment, all of their EMF and EVP readers all of it was trashed. Spruce walked in with Maggie and they stopped to stare in astonishment at the electronic graveyard. "It looks like Sodom and Gomorra in here. What the hell happened?"

Harry and Ed turned to them frowning. "Winchesters." They said annoyed.

"Did you…" Spruce tried to hide his laughter as he turned to Harry. "Did you pee your pants?"

Harry looked down and placed his hands over his crotch. "I hate those guys." He whispered before walking out.

Ed, Maggie, and Spruce turned back to the pile. "Winchesters huh?"

"Those guys are serious douche turds." Ed shook his head and walked away.


End file.
